


Adjustments

by HouseofSannae



Series: Kingdom Hearts Ψ [13]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: (red friends blue friends), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Discussions of Sex and Sexuality, First Kiss, More characters and tags to be added as chapters are posted, Multi, New Friends, Old Friends, Please drink responsibly, Slice of Life, alcohol use, but I'm keeping to the Teen rating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-08-09 22:55:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 43,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16458608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HouseofSannae/pseuds/HouseofSannae
Summary: Snapshots from life in the Mysterious Tower as Ventus, Roxas, Xion, and Naminé adjust to being awake and alive.





	1. Natural Gifts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Guardians of Light discover what "perfectly functional" entails.

            A knock on the door of the study she had co-opted startled Aqua out of her reverie. Since their arrival at the Mysterious Tower two weeks previously, she had been pouring through Yen Sid’s extensive library, hoping to find something, anything, about freeing a person’s heart from darkness. Without destroying it, ideally. There were piles of books as tall as she was heaped on the floor on either side of the desk she was sitting at, as well as several stacked on the desk itself; all sorted by how helpful she thought they’d be on her left, and in helpful/not helpful stacks to her right. The “not helpful” stack was discouragingly large, but she knew she’d barely scratched the surface of what Yen Sid had.

            “Come in,” she called, and Kairi gingerly pushed open the door.

            It had been a week since Kairi and Naminé had returned from their detour. In that time, Ventus had regained the use of his Keyblade, although Roxas and Xion had still had no luck. Aqua had spent most of that time exactly where she was now.

            She glanced at the clock on the wall. What did Kairi want at 11 PM?

            “So…” Kairi said, slightly awkwardly. “It’s been… not quite a month since Naminé and the rest came back.”

            “Yes..?” Aqua asked. It had actually been two weeks, but she figured she knew where this was going. “Do we have an emergency?”

            “Not yet,” Kairi said. She walked over to one of the chairs in the room, moved the stack of books piled on top of it, and sat down. “Aqua, when does your period start?”

            Oh, they were going to be blunt, then. “Any day now, actually, assuming nothing’s changed since the Realm of Darkness. And Castle Oblivion, come to think of it. Why?”

            Kairi breathed a sigh of relief. “Because… I’m about a week late. So I’m guessing our cycles are syncing to yours. Which means the next couple of days are going to be _funnnn_.” She did not sound enthused.

            Aqua blinked, and rubbed her eyes. “Okay. Kairi, we’ve established I’m not your mother. But as the adult here, I feel like it would be irresponsible of me not to ask. You’ve been sharing a room with Sora and Riku. Are you _absolutely sure_ that there’s no other reason why you might not be having your…” she trailed off. Kairi was shaking her head.

            “No, I’m not pregnant. I’m absolutely sure.”

            Aqua bit her lip. She hated having to do this, but like she said, she was the adult. “Kairi, no birth control is 100% effect–”

            “Not having sex is pretty effective,” Kairi interrupted, flatly.

            “…Oh.” Aqua flushed, embarrassed. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed…”

            “No, I get why you did,” Kairi said. “If you must know, Sora isn’t comfortable with it yet. He didn’t…” she sighed. “He’s technically down a year of brain development thanks to his time in the memory repair pod. So he’s still not mentally ready for that sort of thing. And Riku and I don’t want to start experimenting with that kind of thing without him. So, no, I can say for a fact, I’m not pregnant.”

            Aqua’s cheeks were still burning. “Kairi, I’m really, really sorry,” she started, but Kairi chuckled.

            “Hey, it’s okay, Aqua. You did have to check. And if I was, I probably would have gone to you rather than Mickey or Yen Sid.”

            “Or Lea?”

            Kairi shuddered. “I keep forgetting he’s an adult. You’d never guess it.”

            Aqua laughed. “Agreed.” Her smile faded. “So we need to keep an eye on Naminé and Xion, don’t we.”

            “Yyyyyep,” Kairi said. “Still got that bag?”

            “It’s in the supply closet in the kitchen,” Aqua said. Upon their arrival, Yen Sid had done extensive remodelling to the interior of the tower. He’d added a full kitchen, a dormitory floor, training gymnasiums, among other things. He’d also made the staircase seem much shorter.

            “Why not the bathroom?” Kairi asked.

            Aqua opened and closed her mouth. “…Good point,” she said eventually.

            Kairi grinned. “I’m gonna go move it. You should get some sleep,” she added.

            Aqua smiled as she left. She didn’t need to sleep yet. A couple more hours couldn’t hurt.

 

 

            The door of the study burst open at 3 AM. Aqua jerked up in her chair as Roxas kicked open the door, holding Xion in his arms. She seemed to be in intense pain.

            Well, that hadn’t taken long.

            “Aqua, she’s in pain and she can’t stand and I don’t know what to–” he babbled, but Aqua interrupted.

            “Roxas, she’s probably okay, you don’t need to panic. Xion, are you feeling a cramping, around your midsection?” she asked.

            Xion nodded, face screwed up in agony. Aqua patted her shoulder, comfortingly.

            “Well, you’re not hurt, this is normal for us girls.”

            “What do you mean, ‘normal’?” Roxas asked, indignant.

            Aqua’s door swung open again to reveal Kairi, with Naminé slung over her shoulder. “So am I good at predicting this shit or what?” Kairi asked.

            “Language,” Naminé hissed through gritted teeth. Kairi smirked.

            Sora, Riku, and Ventus leaned in behind them, all looking confused and slightly worried. “What’s happening to them, Aqua?” Ven asked.

            Aqua sighed. “Kairi, can you get these two to the bathroom and get them set up? I’ll… try to explain this to the boys.”

            Kairi grinned. “Gotcha. Good luck, Aqua.” Naminé unsteadily balanced on her feet, and Kairi took Xion from Roxas. She led the way out of the room and down the stairs to the bathroom, explaining what was happening on the way, and got them set up. Fortunately, Sora’s mother had thought to include painkillers in the bag of supplies.

            With Xion back on her feet, more or less, Kairi led the way down further to the kitchen, intending to search for chocolate or ice cream or something containing too much sugar. To her surprise, Lea was already there, stirring a mug of hot chocolate.

            “I filled some hot water bottles, they’re in the oven to keep the heat in,” he said, waving over to it. “How are you two feeling?”

            “Horrible,” Xion ground out. “Every _month_ , Kairi?”

            “Every month, give or take,” Kairi confirmed.

            “Fuuuuuuuuck this.” Xion sat down at the table and pressed herself against it, jamming the edge into her gut. She slumped over the table, stretching out flat against it. Lea put a mug of hot chocolate next to her head, and she smiled, gratefully.

            “Kairi,” Naminé said, taking one of the other chairs. “I give up. Absorb me again. This cruel world is too painful to live in.”

            “Sorry, Nam. No can do,” Kairi said. “Don’t worry, it gets worse!”

            She groaned, and accepted another mug from Lea. “You want one, too, Kairi?” he asked.

            “Please and thank you.” He poured another one for her and handed it over, then a final one for himself. He leaned back against the sink, sipping at it. “How did you know to do this?”

            Lea stiffened, almost imperceptibly. “It was… what my father would do for my mother. Back when… yeah.” Kairi decided to drop the subject.

            “So why aren’t _you_ doubled over in pain?” Naminé asked, addressing Kairi.

            “Years of practice managing it. Don’t worry, I’m feeling it, too, I’m just better at hiding it,” Kairi explained.

            Lea suddenly started chuckling. “Oh, now I get it.”

            “Get what?” Kairi asked.

            “Even. ‘Perfectly functional’ my _ass_. This is what he meant. I’m not even mad.” Lea considered his words for a second. “Well, maybe I’m slightly mad. Not enough to threaten his life again, though.”

            Kairi grinned. “So Roxas is gonna have to learn to shave, huh?”

            Lea shrugged. “I guess. Can’t picture him with a beard.”

            “Well, I suppose I should thank him,” Xion said.

            “Thank..?”

            “Even,” she clarified. “If nothing else, this means that Roxas and I can have children if we decide we want to, right?”

            Lea inhaled his drink, and whirled around to sputter into the sink. “I mean years from now,” she hastily explained. “Not… not in the near future. But eventually.”

            “Years from now,” Kairi agreed. “I won’t, uh, pry into your guys’ private affairs, but yeah, that’s definitely a ‘later’ thing.”

            Xion laughed, then winced. “Ow, ow, laughing hurts right now.”

            “Are you drowning, Lea?” Naminé asked.

            Lea pulled his head out of the sink. “No, not yet. Jeez, don’t just spring that on a guy,” he chided Xion. “I’m not old enough to be an uncle.”

            “You’re, what, twenty-seven?” Kairi asked. “You technically are, depending on how old your sibling is.”

            Lea glared at her. “Not when they’re two, I’m not.”

            “Fifteen,” Xion corrected.

            “Too young either way,” Lea countered. “ _Please_ don’t make me give you two the Talk. None of us would survive it.”

            “What’s the–”

            “Nope, ending this discussion now,” Lea said, hurriedly. “Tell you when you’re older.”

            Kairi laughed. Naminé’s mouth turned up, though she still looked exhausted and pained.

            Aqua limped into the kitchen. Evidently she was starting to cramp, as well. “I sent the boys to bed,” she said. “I think they got the picture.”

            “Nice,” Lea said, fishing another mug out of a nearby cabinet and filling it for her.

            “Speaking of going to bed,” Kairi said. “Aqua, did you actually sleep when I told you to?”

            “…maybe…no,” Aqua admitted.

            Kairi rolled her eyes. “You’re not going to find anything in those books if you’re sleep-deprived. Go to bed. Or I’ll tell Ven you’re staying up later than you should.” It was a dire threat. Kairi hadn’t thought that anyone could rival Sora in terms of puppy-dog eyes. Apparently he was but a pale imitation of the true master.

            Aqua sighed. “Fine.” She crossed over to the supply closet and pulled out a mega-potion.  

            To the shock of everyone in the room, she pulled the cork out with her teeth, spat it out into the trash, tilted her head back and drained the bottle without pausing for breath. She put the empty bottle away and waggled the mug of hot chocolate. “I’ll take this with me. Goodnight, everyone.” She turned around and walked back up the stairs, looking less pained.

            Naminé blinked. “Okay, not to be weird, but… was that oddly hot to anyone else?”

            “Yeah,” Xion agreed, wide-eyed.

            “Yeah,” said Kairi, off-handedly. Naminé shifted to stare at her. “What?” she asked, defensively. “Speaking entirely objectively, that was kind of hot. Right, Lea?”

            Lea, personally, hadn’t thought anything of it. “Sure, Kairi. Whatever you say.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise~!  
> Okay, so I have some explaining to do. Not about the content of the chapter. (I have no defense for that one). No, about the posting schedule.  
> See, this fic is fourteen chapters long. Which means, if I do weekly releases like I have been, I'll finish publishing it on February 1st. The same week that Kingdom Hearts III comes out. While that's not inherently an issue, I kind of want to put up the next standalone that comes after this (already written) before KHIII drops, because reasons. So, for this fic only, I'm going to put up two chapters a week. That way it should end in seven weeks, on the 14th of December. I don't anticipate ever having to do this again.  
> Also, as an aside, kind of dumb that Ao3 doesn't let you write chapter notes for the first chapter of the work, unless I missed something somewhere (always a possibility). Hopefully I'll be able to fix that on Friday when the second chapter goes up. Also, add a chapter summary, which is something I wanted to do but again, no option for it until I can edit individual chapters and now I'm ranting.  
> Anywhoo, feel free to yell at me in the comments about the fic. Later!
> 
> EDIT: Whoops okay, yeah, I'm blind, the "Edit chapter" is further down the page.


	2. Insomnio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riku encounters someone else wandering the Tower at night, and Ventus has a conversation with Aqua.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to have it stated for the record that when this was written, we didn't have canon ages for Aqua, Terra, and Ven. So, for the purposes of this AU, in Birth by Sleep, Terra was 21, Aqua was 20, and Ven was 14 (as far as everyone was aware).

            Riku slowly opened his eyes. It wasn’t working, he just couldn’t sleep. This happened every so often, since he learned to embrace his darkness. He’d find himself awake at hours that only technically qualified as “morning”, and had a tendency to sleep in later than he used to. He was usually fine after a bit of walking around.

            This had been easier before they had assembled at the Mysterious Tower.

            He looked down at the two people lying on either side of him. Kairi had her head rested gently against his right side, but had mostly kept her hands to herself. Sora, on the other hand, was practically wrapped around him. He could feel a spot of drool on his left shoulder. After a lifetime of friendship with him before they’d started dating, he was used to it.

            Carefully, he managed to extricate himself and stood up. He moved towards the door of their room, and felt a hand grab the hem of his pajama shirt. Looking back, Kairi hadn’t opened her eyes, but her aim had been impeccable.

            “I said wake me up next time this happens, remember?” she muttered, sleepily.

            “You need sleep,” Riku argued, softly.

            “I do. But I hate waking up with you gone. And it freaks Sora out. Wake me up and let me know that you’re going before you do, ‘kay?”

            “Okay, _Mom_ ,” he teased, leaning over to ruffle her hair. She stuck her tongue out at him.

            “You get one hour,” she mumbled. “Then I’m coming to get you.”

            He smiled, and kissed her cheek. “One hour. Promise.”

            She turned over and became entangled in Sora’s limbs. He waited until he could hear her soft snoring again, and quietly slipped out of the room.

            The dormitory floor was one long, straight hallway. It was easier to think of it like that than to ponder the implications of the doorways on either end both leading to the same staircase. Across the hall from their room was Roxas and Xion’s; to the right was Naminé’s, then Mickey, Donald, and Goofy’s. To the left of Roxas and Xion was Lea’s room, then Aqua and Ventus’s. This had not been the initial arrangement.

            When they had first arrived at the Tower, Yen Sid had already set up the dormitory floor. He had intended for Sora and Riku to room together, as well as Naminé and Xion, Aqua and Kairi, Roxas and Lea, Ventus and Mickey, and Donald and Goofy.

            This had lasted all of ten seconds once Sora had opened the door of their room and asked where Kairi’s bed was.

            Riku understood why Yen Sid had intended the setup he had, and to be honest so did Sora. But he did agree with his boyfriend that they’d been separated from Kairi for long enough, and regardless she’d have been sneaking into their room every night anyway. Roxas and Xion had chimed in to the same effect, and Aqua had steadfastly taken Ven’s hand and insisted she’d been separated from her friend long enough, Ven nodding his agreement. Yen Sid hadn’t argued, and an additional bed had appeared in their room. However, there was still a clear message in that the room now contained three twin beds.

            Undaunted, he and Sora had just pushed the three beds against the wall, and treated them as one mattress.

            He counted it a small victory in the non-argument that the next morning, a set of sheets that fit the Frankensteined mattress perfectly had appeared in the room.

            Roxas and Xion had reportedly settled on the same solution in their room, complete with appropriately-sized sheets. Naminé, who was just happy to have her own room that wasn’t a soul-sucking white, was doubly pleased to find an easel had been added overnight. Lea was the only person who rated a double bed, likely due to his height, but he wasn’t complaining. Aqua and Ven had woken to a privacy screen between their beds, which Riku was sure they were both thankful for. He hadn’t seen any indication they were anything more than friends, and with the way Aqua treated Ven like her kid brother, he didn’t think he was likely to see any, either.

            The living arrangements had been doubly useful the first night Kairi and Naminé got back, when Kairi confided in the two of them that she’d remembered the Fall of Radiant Garden in Castle Oblivion. A single twin bed didn’t make for a good cuddle pile, but their creation did. They’d made it clear to her that if she wanted to talk about it, they wanted to listen, but Kairi had shaken her head and said she wasn’t ready. But also to expect her to be slightly more clingy than usual for a while, which neither of them had a problem with.

            He made his way down the staircase and began looking through the other rooms. It wasn’t _paranoia_ , he knew they were safe here, but it did rest his concerns a bit to patrol. It felt like he was doing something tangible to keep Sora and Kairi safe. And everyone else of course, he added to himself, but if he was being honest he knew who he worried most about. He didn’t think anyone would begrudge him that. They all got it.

            Mindful of his time limit, he made his way down to the grounds, room by room. It was a familiar pattern, and if he was actually seriously patrolling as a defense he really should vary his search every time he did it. But he trusted in Yen Sid’s protective wards. The sorcerer had made it so that no one could enter the Tower grounds via Dark Corridors. Though Xehanort likely wouldn’t attack them at home, anyway, given his desire for a clash between his forces and theirs. He’d wait until they had gathered their Guardians, at least.

            Riku rounded the edge of the Tower’s small spit of land and sighed. Nothing, like always. That wasn’t a bad thing. He turned towards the tower and noticed movement in one of the windows; the kitchen, he thought.

            Odd that they hadn’t turned on the light.

            Actually that bore some checking out. He cautiously made his way back into the Tower and up the staircase to the kitchen.

            “Kitchen” was something of an understatement. The room contained every appliance Riku would ever have considered necessary, and several he didn’t (though Roxas and Xion’s jaws had practically hit the floor when Lea pointed out the ice cream maker). It had a table with six chairs, but also led into a proper dining room with seating for everyone. Riku had questioned the inclusion of both a refrigerator and a walk-in freezer, but it wasn’t his Tower.

            He gently pushed the door open, catching a glimpse of a familiar silhouette against the far wall. “Sora?” he asked, flicking the light switch.

            A young, blond face blinked back at him, both from the light and from sleepiness. “Oh, Ven. Sorry,” Riku apologized. He took an extra sniff just to be sure; yes, it was Ven, not Roxas. It was embarrassing but he still couldn’t tell the two apart by sight alone.

            “Riku?” Ven asked. He looked around, confused. “How did I get to the kitchen?” He frowned. “What time is it?”

            “Just after two in the morning,” Riku replied. “Were you… sleepwalking?”

            “I… I must’ve been,” Ven said, still confused.

            “It’s probably just a side effect from being asleep for so long,” Riku reassured him. “If it keeps happening you could talk to Yen Sid or Aqua about it.” There was a flash of something in Ven’s eyes, but it went by too quick for Riku to catch what it was.

            “What about you?” Ven asked, changing the subject. “What are you doing up?”

            “Me? Oh, uh… It’s a… darkness… thing…” Riku said, awkwardly. “I have trouble sleeping in the dead of night.” He was preparing a flinch in case Ven looked disgusted at his mention of the darkness, but Ven didn’t do anything of the sort.

            Instead, he looked at Riku, curiously. “Are you okay?”

            “Yeah, I just sleep in later than I used to,” Riku said, relieved. He frowned. “Actually, come to think of it, we should both head back to bed. Kairi only gave me an hour, and I’m sure Aqua’s gonna be mad if you don’t get your rest.”

            There it was again. The flash of something in his eyes.

            …Irritation?

            “Riku?” Ven asked, seeming to come to a decision. “Can I talk to you for a bit?”

            “Huh? Yeah, sure, Ven. What about?” Riku asked.

            Ven breathed in and out. “Aqua.”

            Yeah, that was an alarm bell. “Is something wrong?”

            “…No? …Yes?” Ven looked conflicted. “It’s complicated.”

            “Let’s sit down,” Riku suggested, indicating the chairs. Ven slowly sank into an open seat that someone had neglected to push back in. Riku pulled out one of his own. There was a tiny voice, which alternatively sounded like Sora or Kairi, urging him to flip it backwards and straddle it, but he resisted. Ven wouldn’t get the joke. He didn’t even think it was that funny to begin with.

            Ven still looked uncomfortable. “Riku?” he asked. “How old do you think I am?”

            “You’re fourteen, right?”

            There was a humourless chuckle. “Yeah. Or maybe… I’m twenty-six. Or maybe… I’m four. Who knows?”

            “Four? What do you mean?”

            Ven grit his teeth. “Riku, I’ve had amnesia twice. I don’t remember anything from before I was Xehanort’s apprentice. From when I was ten. Then he tore Vanitas out of me, and I lost… myself, again. I’ve gotten those memories back, but… four years. I only have four years of memories. I don’t know if I have parents, if I had friends before Terra and Aqua, what world I’m from… nothing.”

            He leaned back against the chair, his arms crossed over his chest. “So, if you only count what I remember… I’m only four.”

            “Ven, no one thinks that you’re four–” Riku started, but Ven jerked forwards, anger in his eyes.

            “Really? Then how old _would_ you say she thinks I am?” he asked, with a flash of temper that Riku found eerily similar to Roxas.

            “…She? You mean Aqua?” he asked.

            Ven slumped back. “Yeah. Aqua.”

            “I don’t _think_ she thinks you’re four–” Riku started again, but Ven was shaking his head.

            “Look. I… I don’t really act like a grown-up. I didn’t have to, when I had Terra and Aqua and the Master looking out for me. But now… Now it’s just Aqua and me. And we need to get Terra back. I can’t afford to act like a kid anymore, so I haven’t been.”

            Riku blinked. He hadn’t had a frame of reference for Ven’s behaviour beforehand, but he had noticed that Ven seemed… incredibly helpful and determined, since they’d moved in. Apparently it was on purpose.

            “Okay? I mean, I’m not an adult either, not by a long shot, so I’m not speaking from a place of authority, but I wouldn’t be in a hurry to grow up too fast.”

            Ven shook his head. “That’s not the problem. It’s… Aqua.”

            Riku motioned for him to continue. Ven blew out a breath. “She still treats me like I’m a kid.”

            “And that’s bothering you?” Riku asked.

            “Yeah! A lot!” Ven frowned. “And don’t say ‘Oh, she’s just looking out for you! She’s the adult, she’s just taking care of you!’ because that’s crap! Look at what you and Sora did, at my age! I don’t need _babying_ , I need…!” he trailed off, uncomfortable.

            “What do you need?” Riku asked, quietly. He would never call himself good at this, but he did know enough to let Ven work things out on his own, without leading him on.

            “…She’s not letting me help figure out what to do for Terra,” Ven said. “She just keeps telling me not to worry about it. And after everything about doing it ‘together’, I just…!”

            “It’s okay to be angry with her,” Riku said. “But I think you should talk to her about this.”

            “She doesn’t listen.”

            “Then keep trying until she does. And if it gets really bad, talk to Mickey about it, or Yen Sid. She’ll listen to them. Or Kairi, come to think of it,” Riku added, smiling to himself.

            Ven grimaced. “That’s not going to fix the problem. I need her to listen to _me_. She’s _my_ friend. I might be younger than her, but… she knows how I feel about trying to help Terra. I need to be part of this. And she’s keeping me out anyway.” He leaned back in the chair and laughed, humourlessly. “It makes sense, though. Last time I thought Terra needed help I ran off.” The laughter left his face and he frowned. “But then again, she didn’t want me to help with that, either.”

            “Because of your age?”

            “Yeah. ‘Too dangerous’,” Ven muttered.

            Riku pursed his lips. “The only think I can think to tell you is try talking to her about it. And do what you’ve been doing: stay calm, don’t… I mean, I don’t want to insult you by saying you whine, but…”

            “I’ve been known to whine before,” Ven interrupted, a small smile finally making its way onto his face.

            “Right. Uh, try not to do that,” Riku said. Was he making a mess of this? He couldn’t tell. But Ven seemed to be taking his words to heart.

            “Okay. Thanks, Riku. I’ll try,” he said.

            “Try what?”

            They both looked over to the door where Kairi stood, rubbing her eyes. Riku flicked his eyes to the clock on the wall.

            Shit. He was a minute overdue.

            To his surprise, an equally tired-looking Aqua was standing behind her. “Yeah, you’re not the only truant,” Kairi said, catching his glance at her. “Bed. All of you. Now.”

            “Yes, _Mom_ ,” Riku said, smirking, as he and Ven rose from their chairs.

            She glared at him. “Not one word.”

            Kairi led the way back up the stairs and gestured pointedly towards their door. “I’m not mad, Riku, just disappointed. Aqua, Ven, go to bed, Riku and I have… compensation, to discuss.”

            “Right. Goodnight, Kairi, Riku. Come on, Ven,” Aqua said with a smile. She turned towards their room and Riku caught Ven’s eye. He gestured with his head and gave him a thumbs up.

            Ven gulped, nodded, and turned to Aqua. “Hey, Aqua? Can I talk to you for a bit?”

            “It’s late, Ven. Can it wait until morning?”

            Ven steeled himself. “It _could_ , but I don’t want it to. It’s important.”

            Aqua blinked. “Okay? What’s up, Ven?”

            “In our room,” Ven said, and led the way in.

            Kairi and Riku watched them go. “What was that about?” Kairi asked.

            Riku shook his head. “Personal stuff. Ven was asking for some advice.”

            “He sought you out?”

            “Found him sleepwalking.”

            “Huh.” Kairi frowned, and shrugged. “Cause he spent so much time asleep?”

            “That’d be my guess,” Riku said. They slipped inside their room, both smiling a bit upon seeing that Sora had starfished in their absence. Riku glanced back at his girlfriend. “So what was that about compensation?”

            “Oh yes. Well, I gave you an hour and you stayed out past curfew. Even if it was to help a friend, you broke the rules.”

            “Jeez, _Mom_ ,” Riku teased, but the look in Kairi’s eyes was quickly getting dangerous.

            “So, you’re compensating me.”

            “How… so…?”

            “Tongue.”

            “To–? Excuse mMMMMM!!!” Kairi grabbed Riku by the back of his head and pressed her slightly open lips to his, and oh that was what she meant. Okay. Cool. He could deal with this.

            It wasn’t exactly a punishment.

            They broke off, gasping for air. Riku was incredibly happy that he’d brushed his teeth before bed. “Sora gets his in the morning,” Kairi said, sounding slightly dazed.

            “Fair,” Riku agreed. He noted with some amusement that she hadn’t specified which of them he’d be getting it from.

            Both was good.

            “Alright, now, bed,” Kairi insisted, lying down by Sora and letting him wrap around her like a vine. Riku chuckled and joined them, letting Kairi be the middle this time. “We should get a cat, or something,” she mumbled, getting sleepier. “So I’m not the one insisting on bedtime.”

            “We could get you a cat costume,” Riku suggested, teasing.

            Kairi lifted her head to glare at him. “Oh, I bet you’d loooove that,” she said.

            Riku considered. “…You know what. I wouldn’t mind,” he said eventually, in a conversational tone.

            Kairi continued to glare at him, but her face was rapidly turning red. “I’m sure Sora would agree,” he continued. This was a bit mean, but hey, if she said stop, he’d stop. “Or, maybe he’d want to wear one, too. _That_ would be… _nice_.” He would swear steam was coming out of her ears now.

            “Jerk,” she muttered.

            He leaned up and kissed her cheek. “And if you wanted, I wouldn’t mind wearing one either.”

            “Shut. Up.”

            He kissed her forehead. “Love you.”

            “Love you, too, jerk.” She shifted against him. “Ven asked you for advice?”

            “Yep. Something he had to work through with Aqua. I basically just said to keep calm and tell her what’s wrong. I dunno if my advice will actually help, but…”

            “Aw. What a good _Dad_ ,” Kairi said, still sleepy, but not so much as to grin wickedly at Riku’s sudden blush. “Hmm. Can dish it out, but you can’t take it, huh?”

            “Shut up.”

            “Love you, too.”

 

 

            Ventus waited until Aqua had followed him in, and shut the door. He sat down on the foot of his bed, and Aqua sat on hers.

            “Ven? What’s wrong?” she asked.

            Ven took a deep breath, deciding to ease into it. “How’s your research coming?”

            Aqua blinked. “Um, I haven’t… found anything yet,” she admitted. “But don’t worry, Ven! I’m sure I’ll find something eventually!” He could tell, that her cheer was an act. On one level, he appreciated it.

            But right now, it felt kind of condescending.

            “Do you think it would help if I looked through some of the books, too?” he asked, tone carefully neutral.

            Aqua waved her hand dismissively. “No, that’s fine, Ven. You just got back, I’m not going to make you spend all your time digging through books–”

            “So what exactly did you mean when you said we’d work together, then?” Ven asked. It was difficult, but his tone was still neutral.

            Aqua blinked. “Huh?”

            “You said we’d bring Terra back, together. But it’s like you’re doing all the work,” Ven said, slowly, patiently. “Even when I say I want to help.”

            “Ven, I appreciate that you want to help, but studying was never your favourite–”

            “What does that have to do with anything?” Ven interrupted. “Yeah, it was hard to focus when it was just boring schoolwork. But this is Terra’s _life_ we’re talking about here.” Purposefully, he frowned and tilted his head. “Why don’t you think I can handle this?”

            Aqua seemed startled, then very confused. “Ven, it’s not that I think you can handle this, but you’re still so young–”

            _Really_ getting hard to keep his temper, but Ven managed somehow. “Aqua,” he interrupted. “I’m the third oldest person on this floor. Lea’s only a year older than me. Sora is a full decade younger.” He was unaware of the ages of the Disney Town natives, but so was Aqua.

            “Well, technically speaking yes, but Ven, the years you were asleep don’t–”

            “But,” he interrupted again, this time letting a touch of anger, just enough to be noticeable, colour his words, “I’m the only person that you don’t treat like a peer. Please don’t pretend it’s because of how old I am; you don’t talk down to Naminé, and she’s literally _two_.

            “I get it. You think you have to take care of me. And I appreciate you looking out for me. But now it feels like you’re keeping me out of trying to save Terra. Like you can’t acknowledge that I’m not the ten-year-old you took in anymore. And… yeah, it’s a bit my fault. Back before… before, I didn’t have to act my age. But now, I want to. And it feels like you’re ignoring that.”

            There. It was out. And Aqua looked horrified, but he knew her well enough to realize she was probably evaluating her own previous behaviour and finding it wanting.

            “Look, I’m not mad, I’m just… frustrated. I know habits are hard to break, and it’ll take time to readjust. And… yeah, this is another thing we have to let go of from the way things were. But Aqua… I want to move on. I want to, well, start growing up. And I want you to recognize that I’m trying to do that.”

            Ven sighed. “I know I sprung this on you, and I’m sorry. If you want to take a couple of days to figure out a response, I get it. There’s no hurry.” He stood up, and made to move behind the privacy screen. “I’m gonna go to bed. Thanks for listening.”

            “Ven!” Aqua lunged forwards and caught his wrist.

            He turned back to her. “Yes, Aqua?”

            There were tears in the corners of her eyes. “I… I can’t… I didn’t… I…” she shook her head, trying to get her thoughts in order.

            “You can wait until later if you need to,” Ven reminded her, gently.

            Aqua shook her head. “No, I…” she smiled, ruefully. “I _could_ leave it until later, but I don’t _want_ to.”

            He smiled back. “Okay.”

            Aqua breathed a sigh of relief. “Can I start from the beginning? It might not seem relevant but I promise it is.”

            Ven raised an eyebrow. “Okay?”

            “…Back when we were trying to find you, in Castle Oblivion, I felt like I had to push aside how I was feeling, and put Kairi and Naminé’s wellbeing in front of my own. Until we went through my memories of Radiant Garden.”

            Ven placed his hand on hers. He remembered Radiant Garden, too. “I’m sorry for what I said,” he said.

            Aqua nodded. “I know you are. You weren’t entirely wrong, though. But that’s not what this is about.” She took a deep breath. “After that set of memories, Naminé took me aside, and said…” she trailed off, a look that Ven couldn’t place in her eyes. Guilt? Embarrassment? A tinge of nausea? “She said… I’m not their mother, her and Kairi. Or, yours and Terra’s. ”

            “What did she mean by that?” Ven asked. He felt like Aqua needed the prompt, but he was pretty sure he understood what Naminé had meant.

            “Both that I can’t shoulder sole blame for things… and that I don’t have to be… the adult, I guess, for want of a better term.” She couldn’t meet his eyes.

            “…So, meaning that you also shouldn’t take sole responsibility for things?” Ven asked, softly.

            Aqua nodded. “I’m sorry, Ven. I guess I didn’t listen as well as I should have.”

            To her surprise, he pulled her into a hug. “It’s okay, Aqua. Like I said, habits are hard to–”

            “No, it’s not okay, Ven,” she said, determined. “It’s only going to be okay when I stop doing it. Habit or not, I don’t have an excuse.” She hadn’t pulled out of the hug, though.

            He patted her on the back. “I appreciate it, Aqua,” he said. “And I have an idea.”

            “An idea?”

            “You’re right, I’m not great at studying. But I don’t think that’s what you’re having trouble with right now.”

            “What do you mean?”

            “What time did you lock yourself in the study today?”

            “Um… around 8 AM?”

            “And you’re only just getting out now? After 2 AM?” Ven said. His tone was slightly mocking, slightly concerned.

            Aqua winced. They were still hugging, so he couldn’t see her face, but he didn’t need to. “This is important–” she started.

            “So is sleeping, and eating,” Ven interrupted. “So, maybe I can help by making sure you eat, and get to bed on time?”

            Aqua considered this. “…My first instinct is to say no, don’t worry about it,” she admitted, “but…”

            “But maybe that means it’s a good idea?” Ven said, smirking.

            Aqua laughed. “Yes, Ven. Maybe it is. We’ll try it tomorrow, okay?”

            “Nope!”

            Aqua started. “No? Ven…?”

            Ven was shaking his head. “Take one day. Fix your sleep schedule. Then we’ll try it, okay?”

            Smiling, Aqua hugged Ven tighter. “Okay. Thanks, Ven.”

            He smiled, too. “No, Aqua, thank you, for listening.”

            The hug lasted for a couple of seconds longer until Aqua had a horrible realization. “Uh, Ven?” she asked.

            “Yeah?”

            “Should… should I move out of this room?”

            Ven blinked. “What? No, why would you do that?”

            Aqua was glad he couldn’t see her face at the moment. “Well, um… if you’re… wanting me to… see you as… more adult… does that… mean…?”

            “Does that mean what?” Ven asked, genuinely confused.

            “Ven, I… I still see you as my little brother. I’m sorry if that’s… not what you want…” Aqua began, feeling herself start to die a little inside due to embarrassment.

            Oh.

            _Oh._

            Ven jerked back out of her arms, face turning red. Aqua’s, he saw with some distance, was also just as red. “No, no, that’s not what I meant at all, Aqua!” he said, hastily. “You’re like a big sister to me, that’s – that’d be weird!”

            The relief was evident on Aqua’s face. “Oh, good,” she said, then looked guilty. “I mean, oh, I’m sorry, Ven, that was inappropriate of me to assume… b-but it’s not like you’re not – I mean, you’re like my brother, it _would_ be weird, and I–”

            “Okay!” Ven interrupted her panicked rambling. “It’s – it’s not _that_ , we both agree, _that_ ’s not happening, so let’s stop thinking about it? Please?”

            They stared at each other for a second, both looking terrified, then simultaneously burst into laughter. They fell back on Ven’s bed, both overcome by how ridiculous this was.

            Eventually, it petered out. “So, just so we’re clear, no interest?” Aqua asked.

            “No interest,” Ven agreed.

            “As it should be.”

            “Yep.” Ven chuckled. “Besides, I always thought, you and Terra…”

            “Wh–Really?” Aqua asked, shocked.

            Ven looked over at her. “No?”

            “No! _Light_ , Ven, he’s like my brother, too!” He suppressed a smirk. Aqua sounded _scandalized_. He wondered if it should worry him that she thought him having a crush on her was more likely than her and Terra liking each other. Well, they had known each other longer.

            And neither scenario was the case. So they could both rest slightly easier (and in the same room).

            He still wished Terra could be here, too. Could laugh at the ridiculousness, too.

            “He will be,” Aqua said, softly. He blinked in shock, not having realized how close her thoughts and his were. “We’ll bring him back.”

            Ven reached into his pocket and fished out his Wayfinder. He held the green trinket up to the light. Beside him, Aqua did the same with hers.

            “We’ll find a way,” Ven agreed, softly.

            “Together, we’ll find a way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, when I first conceptualized this fic, I expected the chapters to be shorter than in my other fics. Around the length of the last chapter. The plan for this chapter was just for Riku to talk to Ven. That's all that was supposed to happen.  
> Then Ven decided he had more to say.   
> Key2DestNE, if you're still lurking around here, this is what I was writing when we had that conversation on chapter 7 of Land of Oblivion. Like I said back then, I didn't know what to have Ven talk to Riku about, and talking to you solved that issue for me. Also means I don't have to write him as... let's be charitable and say "childish" as he comes across in BbS.   
> That, and Kairi and Riku wanted to flirt a little. Kairi is fun to tease, too.   
> Also I should probably apologize to any Terra/Aqua shippers (I know I have at least one). Unlike Roxas/Naminé, I totally get it, but it's not really my cup of tea. I have other plans for both of them, though there's some stuff that has to happen first. (UnNorting Terra, for one...)  
> I think that's it, but as always if you want me to talk more about anything, leave a comment!


	3. Miracle on Dog Street

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kairi takes Roxas, Xion, and Naminé clothes shopping in Twilight Town, and runs into some familiar faces.

            “Okay, I’ll be the first to admit I have no idea where to go. Last time I was here I was running for my life from Axel, so…” Kairi trailed off. She was supervising a day trip to Twilight Town while Sora and Riku were away on a mission, since Naminé, Roxas, and Xion’s new clothes weren’t exactly all-weather wear. “Roxas? Any ideas?”

            Roxas blinked, having been mentally miles away. “What? Oh, uh… I never felt the need to buy clothes here, so I have no idea?” he managed.

            “Aw. Guess you guys didn’t bother to simulate the clothing stores anyway, huh?” Kairi asked Naminé.

            She shook her head. “No, we did.”

            “Why?”

            Naminé shrugged. “DiZ was a perfectionist with way too much time on his hands. Even while he was building a data conversion machine, abusing a one-year-old, and convincing a fifteen-year-old to be an accessory to murder.” This was all said in that particular monotone that Kairi had learned meant “This still bothers me and I would rather not be talking about it.” She gave her sister a quick hug. “Sorry for bringing it up.”

            Naminé smiled. “It’s okay.”

            “We could ask around?” Xion suggested. “The people who live here ought to know where to buy clothes.” She completely missed the uncomfortable look that passed over Roxas’s face, but Kairi didn’t.

            “Roxas? You good?” she asked.

            He grimaced. “Yeah, it’s just… None of the real people here ever met me. So it’s… kind of hard.”

            In sympathy, Xion took his hand. He gently leaned against her, taking a deep breath.

            “Kairi?” came a voice from behind them. The group turned around to see three people around Kairi’s age. A brunette girl in a black tank top and red, plaid pants, a brunet boy in athletic pants, a headband, and an oversize t-shirt with a plaid scarf around his neck, and a blond boy with slicked-back hair in jean shorts and a short, plaid vest over his own t-shirt.

            Kairi recognized them, of course, and beamed. She’d been hoping to run into them. “Hayner! Pence! Olette! It’s good to see you!”

            They smiled back at her, running over. “Good to see you, too! Didn’t realize you were back!” Hayner said.

            “Yeah, a bunch of us are staying over in… uh…” Kairi froze, remembering that the trio, while aware of some Keyblade matters, didn’t know about the Mysterious Tower.

            “Is it wherever that weird driverless train we see every once in a while goes?” Pence asked, shrewdly.

            “…Yes. Yes, it is, and I dunno if I can tell you any more than that,” Kairi said, relieved.

            “Gotcha,” he winked.

            “Are you going to introduce us to your friends, Kairi?” Olette asked, smiling warmly at Xion, Naminé, and Roxas. The two girls met her gaze, but Roxas looked like he wanted to be almost anywhere else.

            “Right, of course!” Kairi said. “This is Naminé, and this is Xion. They’re my sisters!”

            Naminé waved hello. Xion, not as used to hearing Kairi claim the familial connection as Naminé was, blushed but waved as well. “It’s nice to meet you.”

            Hayner raised an eyebrow. “Identical sisters? I get the feeling it’s more complicated than that?”

            After glancing at Naminé and Xion to confirm it was okay to talk about, Kairi nodded. “It is. We’ll tell you about it sometime. And this,” she gestured to the fourth member of their group, who still looked like he was trying to merge with the pavement, “is Roxas.”

            Begrudgingly, he looked up. “…Hey,” he said, stiffly, and looked back away.

            Olette walked over and tilted her head to look at his eyes. “…It’s you..?” she said, softly.

            “Wait. You mean’s _he’s_..?” Hayner said, startled. Pence was nodding.

            “Yeah, yeah I think he is!” He beamed. “You’re the guy that was in the computer in the mansion!”

            Roxas froze. Unnoticed by anyone save Kairi, Naminé froze as well.

            “I…” he managed to say, but Olette smiled.

            “In his spare time, Pence has been going through what was left of that DiZ guy’s computer system. And he found records that someone was in that digital world.”

            “Records?” Kairi asked.

            Pence nodded. “There were digital recreations of everyone here in town, even the three of us.” Roxas was starting to shake a bit. Xion grabbed his hand and he seemed to steady. “And, one other person that we hadn’t ever met.”

            “Hey, not true,” Hayner interjected. “We had seen him before. Met him on the street. Saw him on the clocktower a couple of times.”

            “Right, right,” Pence agreed. “But, in the simulation, it looked like he was friends with us.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

            It was a picture, printed awkwardly on an 8.5 by 11” piece of paper, with half the page left blank due to the formatting. It was Pence, Olette, Hayner, and Roxas posing together outside of the old mansion gate.

            Gingerly, Roxas took the picture from him. “So, we’ve been looking forwards to meeting you, Roxas,” Olette said with a smile.

            “Yeah. I mean, no promises about friendship or anything, but you seemed cool from what we saw,” Hayner added. Olette and Kairi both glared at him. “What? We just met the guy!”

            To their surprise, Roxas burst out laughing. “I’m sorry,” he said, gasping for air, “I’m sorry, it’s just… that’s such a _you_ thing to say.” He squeezed Xion’s hand. “This is probably going to be a bit weird. I have… a bunch of memories about you three that weren’t even real. The real you, I mean.”

            “Then, hey. Let’s make some real ones,” Pence grinned, slapping him on the back. “What brings you to town?”

            “Shopping!” Kairi said, brightly. Olette smirked and Hayner muffled a groan. “Roxas misses his old outfit, among other things.”

            “The weird black coat thing?” Hayner asked. “Have to be honest, we thought you and that redheaded guy were in a cult or something.”

            “Well…” Roxas exchanged a glance with Xion. “Kinda? Not that one, though. I had a different set of clothes in the simulation…”

            “Oh yeah,” Pence said. “We can hook you up. Come with us!”

            “First, uh, I have to introduce you,” Roxas said.

            “Introduce us?”

            Roxas lifted his hand, still holding Xion’s. “This is Xion. She was with Axel and me on the clocktower, all the time. You might not remember her, because… reasons.” He took a deep breath and his face reddened considerably. “And she’s my girlfriend.”

            Xion’s face also turned bright scarlet, but she squeezed Roxas’s hand and managed to croak out a “Hi”.

            Kairi could practically see stars in Olette’s eyes, and a strange look in Hayner’s. All three had flinched somewhat when Roxas had introduced Xion, but it had passed quickly; not nearly as many memories to return.

            “It’s so nice to meet you!” Olette practically cooed. Pence smiled, but he seemed to be looking at her more than at Xion.

            Hayner rolled his eyes. “All right. Look, if we’re going to have this big a group, we might as well split up. Pence, Olette, you go with the two lovebirds and I’ll escort the ladies.”

            Pence and Olette glanced at each other, and shrugged, missing the sight of Roxas and Xion somehow getting even redder. “Okay. We’ll meet back up at that café you like,” Olette said. Her tone turned teasing. “The one with–”

            “Yeah, yeah, we’ll meet you there,” Hayner grumbled. She snickered, and gently looped her arms through Roxas and Xion’s. “Come on, it’s this way!”

            Pence waited for a second, stepping towards Naminé. “I feel like I’ve seen you before somewhere, too,” he mused.

            Naminé stiffened. “You must be confusing me for someone else,” she said.

            Pence shook his head. “No, I think I know who you are.” His voice dropped to a point where only she could hear. “You’re the girl from the Old Mansion. The one we used to think was an urban legend.” He smiled. “You look much happier now. I’m glad you got out.”

            Naminé’s eyes widened. “I–” she started, but Pence was already away after Olette, Roxas, and Xion.

            Hayner shrugged. “I think I know what that was about, and I don’t really care if he’s right or not. You’re Kairi’s sister, that’s enough for me.”

            Naminé let out a bemused laugh. “All right, then. I hope you weren’t expecting anything from getting the two of us alone. Kairi’s taken and you’re… not really my type.”

            Hayner rolled his eyes again. “Well, thanks. If you really need to know, I did this so that maybe Pence and Olette will get a clue, you know?” He made a face. “Crap, I’m starting to sound like Rai.”

            “Get a clue?” Kairi asked.

            Hayner sighed. “You saw the way they look at each other, right? It’s obvious!”

            “Obvious? Oh!” Kairi gasped. “Do they like each other?”

            Hayner threw up his hands. “Right?! Tell me I’m not making it up!”

            Naminé considered. “I… guess you could interpret it that way. So are you trying to give them an example by pairing them with Roxas and Xion?”

            Hayner grinned. “Smart, right? Thought of it myself!”

            Naminé snorted. “If it works. They only just got comfortable with handholding.”

            “Don’t be lewd,” Hayner and Kairi both said simultaneously, looked at each other, and high-fived, beaming. Naminé sighed.

            “So anyway, new clothes, and you wanted to try to find an art supply store?” Kairi asked her.

            Naminé nodded. “That’s right. I have an easel now, might as well use it. Which means canvases, paint, at least one smock, brushes, brush cleaners… A bunch of stuff the stationary store back on the Islands didn’t have.”

            Hayner rubbed his chin. “I think I know a place.” His eyes narrowed. “But if you tell anyone I told you about it I’ll deny it.”

           

 

            The store was everything Naminé had been looking for and more. She spent nearly an hour pouring over different paint brands and brush sets, also resupplying her crayons and coloured pencils – hey, trying a new medium didn’t mean abandoning the old one. Hayner watched in bemusement as she tore from one side of the store to the other.

            “So… what artsy thing do you do that you want to keep a secret?” Kairi asked, sidling over to him innocently (he knew instinctively there were very few things innocent about Kairi. He’d known Olette too long to believe otherwise).

            He sighed. “I build and paint model kits. I know, I know, it’s not a big deal, but I have a very specific image I try to convey.”

            “’Dumbass jock’?” Kairi asked.

            He glared at her. “Shut up.”

            She smiled, sweetly, which he knew was dangerous. “Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with Aunt Kairi.”

            “Aunt Kairi is mean,” Hayner muttered.

            “Aunt Kairi does what she wants,” Kairi said, nodding. “How’s it going, Nam?” she called.

            Naminé skidded to a halt in front of them, balancing several small canvases, a varied brush set, and several tube of paint. “Hayner I think I love you. Platonically.”

            “Thanks?” he said. “Do you need help carrying anything?”

            “No, but I think if I want anything bigger than this I should get some of our tall friends to carry it for me.” She shifted the pile and Kairi caught some paint tubes that rolled off.

            “Clothes next?” Kairi asked.

            Naminé nodded. “Yes, sure, that would be–” She gasped. “SMOCK!” Kairi found herself now holding the unwieldy pile of art supplies as Naminé ran back into the depths to find what she’d forgotten.

            “Aunt Kairi does what she wants, huh?” Hayner asked.

            “Shut up.”

 

 

            Hayner stood outside Café Hiryuu and took a deep breath. “Not a word,” he said to Kairi and Naminé. They exchanged a glance and shrugged.

            Their trip had been fruitful, and Naminé was now the proud owner of three new dresses, two skirts, and several different cuts of shirt. She had changed from her tie-dye dress into a pale, baby-blue blouse and a lavender-on-white plaid skirt. White as a pattern with another colour, she appeared to be okay with. Hayner had raised an eyebrow at the price tag when they had brought their bounty to the register, and had raised the other when Naminé had handed over the munny without so much as flinching.

            “Heartless hunting. They just kind of pick up munny for some reason,” Kairi had said by way of explanation.

            “Now _that’s_ a summer job worth the time,” Hayner had replied. He’d led the way to the café Olette had mentioned, and here they were.

            They entered, and as Kairi and Naminé gave appreciative looks at the décor, Hayner stole a glance at the girl behind the counter. She was about his age, in a simple orange shirt and practical jeans, and she had dyed streaks of blonde in her naturally pink hair.

            He wasn’t going to blush. It was uncool, so he didn’t.

            She caught his eye and smiled, and darn it he wasn’t going to blush! “Hi, Hayner! Who’re your friends?” she said.

            Hayner found his tongue and managed to get out, “Friends from out of town. We’re gonna wait for Pence and Olette and a couple of other friends, okay?” He gestured towards one of the larger booths and oh jeez was his face turning red? It wasn’t, right?

            She kept smiling. “Sounds good. Feel free to come up and order whenever.”

            “Thanks!” he said, and ushered Kairi and Naminé into the booth.

            “Soooooo,” Kairi drawled. “Who’s thaaaaat?”

            The booths were tall enough that they pretty much guaranteed the privacy of anyone sitting in them, and long enough that they’d fit the entire party once they arrived. Hayner very pointedly sat down on the side that faced away from the counter. “Lenna Tycoon. Her father owns the café. _Not_ a _word_.”

            A smile that would be traditionally described as that of a cat that caught a canary spread over Kairi’s face as she and Naminé sat across from him. “You _liiiiiike_ her.”

            “That’s _three_ words!” Hayner grumbled.

            “Aw, Hayner, it’s okay,” Kairi said, smiling innocently. “You can tell Aunt Kairi aaaalllll about it.”

            “I’m not sure I’m a fan of Aunt Kairi,” Hayner muttered.

            “Aunt Kairi grows on you,” Naminé said, poking at the menu. “But if you do like her, are you sure that showing up with two other girls is the best thing to do?” she added, giving him a sly look from the corner of her eyes.

            Hayner crossed his arms. “I told her you were friends, and that we’re meeting other friends here. There’s no reason for her to think that I’m… a-and anyway, all she has to do is ask you two.”

            “Hmm, true,” Naminé said, smiling.

            Kairi leaned out of the booth to take another look at Lenna. “Does she know how you feel? I saw that smile she was giving you.”

            Hayner shook his head. “She’s at work. That’s a customer service smile, it doesn’t count. And no, she doesn’t.”

            “Why not tell her?” Kairi asked, innocently.

            Hayner leaned forwards across the table towards her, resting his head in his hands. “Because I don’t want to make things weird for her. Plus, even if she does feel the same way, her big sibling’d kill me. Just on principle.”

            “Big ‘sibling’?” Naminé asked.

            “Yeah. I haven’t seen Faris today so I dunno if they’re–”

            “It’s a girl day,” came a voice from beside them. Hayner jumped half a foot. Lenna was leaning on the side of the booth, smirking. “But she’d appreciate the consideration.” She nudged Hayner. “Gonna introduce me to your girlfriends?”

            Yeah, he wasn’t kidding anyone, that was definitely a blush. “Lenna, this is Kairi, and her sister Naminé. They’re from out of town. Kairi, Naminé, this is Lenna.”

            “Charmed,” said Naminé, smiling flirtatiously. Kairi rolled her eyes and kicked her ankle under the table. “Nice to meet you,” she said. “Slow day? I didn’t think this was the kind of place where we order at the table.”

            “Slow day,” Lenna confirmed.

            “How… how long were you…?” Hayner stammered.

            “Standing here? Long enough,” Lenna said, still smirking. “Your friends are here.”

            Pence, Olette, Roxas, and Xion had wandered in, now looking around for Hayner and the girls. Lenna waved them over. “Have fun,” she said. “And Hayner?”

            He gulped. “Yes?”

            She smiled, warmly, and Kairi could tell it was sincere. “I get out at four. You should come see me; I think we have stuff to talk about.”

            He was turning bright red. “S-sure,” he mumbled. “That’d be… yes.”

            Kairi had the decency to wait until Lenna had walked away before beaming. “Well, well, well. Congratulations!”

            “Shut up,” Hayner growled, still embarrassed.

            The other four came into sight, Roxas looking much more comfortable in his old off-white, red-trimmed jacket and green and tan pants. His undershirt, however, was a white-and-black plaid instead of solid black. Xion had also donned a new outfit, wearing black slacks and a plaid purple button-down shirt under a matching black knit button-up sweater, the front of which she left unfastened to hang down past her waist. Roxas had even managed to find the white and black rings he had once worn on his right hand. Kairi’s eyes nearly bugged out when she noticed that Xion was wearing the exact same rings on her left hand, though with their colours reversed; white on her index finder, black on her middle finger. She would have to gush to Sora and Riku later over how cute they were together.

            “He didn’t want a Dog Street hat!” Pence said by way of greeting. “I tell ya, Rox, we need to work on your taste.”

            “Pence, I didn’t know what the virtual you saw in them, and I still don’t know what the real you sees in them,” Roxas retorted, but he was grinning.

            “You two look great,” Kairi said. “But… what exactly is with all the plaid? All the stores we went to had it, too.”

            “I’m not sure,” Olette said. “It’s kind of become the fashion as of late. A new designer came on the scene – Briar Rose, I think they’re called – and now every other designer is following suit. And it’s not like it’s a bad look,” she added, looking down and twisting to look at her pants, “if a bit… odd.”

            “Huh,” Kairi said. Why did the name Briar Rose sound familiar? Well, questions for later. She grinned, evilly. “Hayner has news.”

            “News?” Olette asked. Hayner glared at Kairi.

            “Lenna… might or might not have overheard a conversation we were having,” he ground out. “And she asked me to see her after work.”

            Olette beamed, and Pence looked stoked. “That’s great!” Olette cheered. “About time, dude!” Pence agreed.

            Hayner glared at Kairi again. Roxas caught his look.

            “Ah. I see someone has met Aunt Kairi,” he said, sitting down in the booth next to Hayner.

            Hayner nodded. “Aunt Kairi can be a jerk,” he said.

            Roxas nodded, too. “Aunt Kairi pushes people off of benches.”

            “Aunt Kairi can hear you,” Kairi said, unamused.

            “Aunt Kairi might want to quit while she’s ahead,” Naminé said. She was showing Xion some of the art supplies she’d bought.

            “Oh, that reminds me!” Xion said. “I got something you might like, Naminé!”

            “Something I might like?”

            Xion reached into one of her bags and pulled out a slim box. She flipped it open to reveal a red beret decorated with yellow starbursts. Naminé’s eyes widened. Xion beamed. “Yes?”

            “Yes! Xion, I love it!” Naminé leaned over and wrapped Xion in a big hug. She laughed, and put the beret on Naminé’s head.

            “Looks good, Nam!” Kairi declared, smiling.

            “Actually it kind of clashes with what she’s wearing,” Hayner muttered.

            “Quiet, you!” Hayner almost jumped as Kairi, Naminé, and Xion fixed him with three identical glares, speaking in identical tones.

            “Okay, sorry, I’ll stop talking… weird triplet telepathy or something…” he mumbled, sinking in his seat.

            “That reminds me,” Olette said. “You said you’d explain why the three of you look so similar, right, Kairi? Why don’t we do that over lunch?”

            Kairi considered, looking at Naminé, Xion, and Roxas in turn and gaining their tacit approval. “Sure. But I’ll warn you, it’s kind of a long story.”

            The rest of their day was spent discussing the three former Nobodies’ origins. To their credit, Hayner, Pence, and Olette took their stories in stride, even if Hayner did tear up a bit at several points. They parted ways towards the end of the day, and Kairi’s group returned to the Mysterious Tower.

            As they walked towards the door after disembarking the train, Kairi caught Roxas smiling to himself. “Feels good, making new friends, eh Roxas?” she asked.

            He looked at her and his smile widened. “Feels even better getting them back.”

            Kairi smiled back.

            It did indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think Roxas has suffered enough without denying him this, don't you?  
> More to talk about this time around, but I'm sure I'll forget something or other. The Twilight Town trio are in their KHIII outfits, and yes, there is significance to the name Briar Rose. Think Disney. Hayner liking model kits is a bit of my other interests poking through; one of the hobbies I have besides fanfic is Gunpla models; that is, models of robots from the Gundam franchise.  
> Ah, but we should discuss the new character, eh? Lenna Charlotte Tycoon, of Final Fantasy V. Like I said, playing the Final Fantasy series means I get to pull in characters for this AU. Her hair colour is a reference to her artwork; in the Amano illustration, she's blonde, but in her in-game art and sprites, her hair is hot pink. Thus, pink with blonde highlights. I also might be playing around with ages a bit, like what canon did with Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie; here, Lenna is around 15-16, instead of her canonical 19.  
> And, Faris. I've got some explaining to do. Faris Scherwiz is another protagonist from FFV. Her original name is Sarisa Scherwil Tycoon; she's Lenna's older sister, but when she was a toddler, she fell off their father's wind drake (Hiryuu, hence the café name) and was rescued by pirates. She was raised as a boy and given the name Faris from her mispronunciation of her other name, Sarisa. Faris is introduced as a man, and her true gender is a reveal for the characters (Less so for the player since her overworld sprite has defined breasts...). However, she's uncomfortable being a princess and asks that the party, including Lenna, continue referring to her as Faris, rather than Sarisa. Canon Faris isn't genderfluid, but _I do what I want_.  
>  Dog Street, the logo on Pence's shirt, is actually a reference to a Squaresoft game called The Bouncer, for which Nomura did the character designs. It refers to an actual street, but I interpret it as some kind of band or something. Roxas isn't a fan.  
> The beret Xion gives Naminé is a reference to a different Final Fantasy game. I think I've been pretty open about which ones I've played, but to give a huge hint, which one has another blonde artist..?


	4. When They Come Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naminé seeks out help, rather than suffer alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "So even when those thoughts come back, I find Anna, or her fiancé, or our other friends, and remind myself that I’m not alone, that there are people who love me.”
> 
> “When they come back?” Naminé asked, fearfully.
> 
> Elsa nodded. “I’m afraid so. Maybe they’ll go away completely with time, but as of right now they occasionally come back. I spent so long thinking like that, it’s easy to slip back into it.” While they had been talking, Anna had shifted position, and now had a comforting arm around both of them. “But they’re manageable, and I can recognize them for what they are, and I can banish them with the help of my friends.” She gave Naminé a comforting look. “I’m not alone, and neither are you.”

            Naminé stood before the door, trying to work up the nerve to knock. It was the middle of the night, and she hadn’t been able to sleep.

            It was one of those nights, again. One of the nights where her thoughts swirled like a storm, dredging up old memories and thoughts she’d rather pull away from, leave in the past where they belonged. But the storm howled, and brought with it the pain, guilt, and sadness she was supposed to be working past.

            She hadn’t had a night like that since before regaining her body. But, she supposed, her good fortune couldn’t have lasted forever.

            She stood in front of the door, feeling like she shouldn’t bother, that she’d just be a burden to the people within.

            And she knew that thoughts like that were exactly why she needed to knock.

            There are many ways to be brave. An underappreciated way is the bravery it takes to reach out when your mind is screaming at you to keep to yourself. If you asked her, Naminé wouldn’t have said that knocking on the door was a brave thing to do. But as someone told her a short while ago, we never quite see ourselves in an unbiased light.

            And that’s why we need others.

            Naminé knocked on the door.

            A scant few seconds later, the door opened, revealing Kairi with a bad case of bedhead.

            “Naminé?” she asked, sleepy. “What’s up?”

            “I can’t sleep,” Naminé admitted. “I can’t... get my mind to quiet down.”

            Kairi immediately snapped awake. She reached through the door and gently grabbed Naminé’s arm. “Well, then you’ve come to the right place,” she said with a caring smile.

            Kairi pulled Naminé into the room and brought her over to the chimera of a bed formed from pushing together three twin beds. Yen Sid might have allowed the teenagers living with him to share rooms, but there was still such a thing as propriety. Not that any of them cared.

            “Wake up, dorks, Naminé needs cuddles,” Kairi ordered, poking at the two lumps still ensconced in sheets.

 

 

And that was how, some time later, Naminé found herself nestled against Riku’s chest, with Kairi lying next to her with her back against Sora. The other girl held her hand as she let everything out, occasionally pausing for reassurance.

            “And even right now, I feel like I’m intruding on your time together,” she admitted, but Riku held her tighter, and Kairi squeezed her hand.

            “You’re not intruding, Nam,” Kairi said. “You’re our friend, we want to help you and be there for you.”

            “Seconded,” Riku said. “Asking us to lend an ear isn’t an intrusion.”

            There was silence for a second, until Kairi said, “Sora?”

            “Whuh?” came the reply. Sora hadn’t managed to wake up fully.

            With a smile, Kairi asked, “Do you think Naminé is intruding?”

            “Mmmmmmmno,” Sora said, and reached out the arm that Kairi wasn’t using as a pillow to pat Naminé on the head. “Naminéza good noodle.”

            “Okay, thank you, Sora. Now go back to sleep,” Kairi said, grinning. Naminé could feel Riku shaking with silent laughter.

            “Mmmmkay,” Sora mumbled. He moved his arm away from Naminé’s head and settled it around Kairi. “G’night.”

            “Goodnight, Sora,” Naminé and Riku echoed. Light snores started up behind Kairi.

            “Is he always like that?” Naminé asked.

            “Only when he’s very tired,” Kairi said. “He’s not going to remember any of it in the morning, either.”

            “You heard it here first, though. You’re a good noodle,” Riku teased.

            Naminé blushed in the dark. “Thanks,” she said.

            “No problem,” Kairi said. “You’re part of our family, too.” She then looked down to where Sora’s arm had ended up, and snorted. “Now if only I could get him to do this when he’s awake,” she said. His arm had landed across her chest.

            “So you still haven’t..?” Naminé broke off, not sure if what she was asking was too personal.

            “No, not yet,” Riku answered. “He’s not ready yet. But we think he’s worth waiting for.”

            “Whatever we do, we do together,” Kairi agreed, nodding.

            “Makes sense,” Naminé said. “But just remember, Riku. I was inside Kairi first.”

            She could feel the flush spreading across Riku’s face without needing to see it. Kairi pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. Eventually, she asked, “Naminé? The _fuck_?”

            “Well, I guess that settles it,” Riku said, recovering quickly and starting to laugh. “She’s definitely _your_ little sister.”

            “Traitor!” Kairi hissed, but there was no venom in it. Eventually she joined the two of them in hushed laughter, careful not to wake Sora.

 

 

            The next morning, Sora awoke to the somewhat confusing sight of Naminé sandwiched between Riku and Kairi. As he shifted to get a better view, Kairi whispered a groggy “Good morning.”

            “Morning,” he whispered back. “Uh, did I miss something? Why is Naminé sleeping with us?” He regretted the phrasing the second it left his mouth, but Kairi paid it no mind.

            “She couldn’t sleep last night, so I invited her in for a vent session and cuddle party. You were half asleep.”

            “Oh.” Sora had been told of how he acted when half asleep. “Did I... do anything?”

            “You said she was a good noodle,” Kairi said, grinning.

            “In my defense, she is,” Sora countered.

            “She is indeed,” Kairi said, yawning and shifting position slightly.

            Abruptly Sora was aware of where his arm was.

            “Oh jeez, Kairi, I’m sor-” he started, but Kairi caught his hand in her own before he could pull it away.

            “Listen, Sora,” she said, craning her neck to catch his eye, “if you want to move your arm away, I’m not going to stop you. But if you want to leave it where it is, I’m more than okay with it. Up to you.” She nuzzled the top of her head under his chin.

            After a small period of panicked deliberation, Sora finally relaxed his arm, letting it stay right where it was. Kairi smiled at him, and the two laid there quietly, waiting for Naminé and Riku to wake up.

            Again, bravery comes in many different shapes and forms.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter, but there's a lot to talk about.  
> This chapter was entirely written on my phone, while on break at work; it's the first of three chapters in this fic that were at least started on my phone. Adding in the indentation was _fun_ , let me tell you.   
> It was also the first chapter written for this fic, which is why the explanation about the beds is given again; I had the idea in mind already, but wasn't sure what was going to come before or after this chapter quite yet, so I put it in there just to be safe.   
> Giving you the date on which this chapter was finished might answer some questions about the planning. According to the date on the document in my phone, I finished writing this on the 22nd of March.   
> Yes, that's how far back I'd been planning Adjustments, although it didn't have that as its title at the time. (I don't think I had a title at all for it yet). My original concept for this was to be a "behind the scenes" sort of thing for Kingdom Hearts III; that's why you'll be getting "character wasn't present for this, having been sent out on a mission". The idea was that this is what everyone else is doing while Sora is doing KHIII.   
> Now, of course, trailers came out, and I had to abandon that idea completely. But, I still wanted to do slice-of-life in the Mysterious Tower, and I'd long since abandoned canon-compliance when Naminé got her Keyblade (I believe I had that idea in December or January?) so there was no reason not to do it.   
> As for the actual content of the chapter. The thing about depression is, it doesn't just "go away" (well, generally speaking. Personal experience may vary). Usually in fiction, once you have the sort of revelation and reconciliation that Naminé had in Naminé's Bogus Journey, the issue is considered "solved" and not really brought up again.   
> But it doesn't actually work like that. And this is me acknowledging that.   
> I'm not planning on doing a lot of these "Naminé is still coping with depression and sometimes it's harder than at other times" snippets, since, while I want to be realistic about this, it's honestly not that good of storytelling just repeating the same thing over and over (Real life has shitty narrative structure). However, I do want it understood that being open about her issues and seeking help, and receiving it, hasn't 100% solved her problems. And it was never going to. But, it does mean she's handling it in a healthier manner, in a way that she can sustain and still enjoy life. And that's what's important.   
> And yes, I couldn't resist the little bit of... "teasing" might be the wrong word, but the stuff with Sora at the end. I believe you need a bit of lightheartedness when dealing with stuff like this.   
> (Also, I want to put this in context for you. Naminé making that lewd joke was written before everything that came after KLEA. Hopefully, I did my job right, and you didn't even notice the seams.)


	5. Set The World Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To break her out of a funk, Sora challenges Aqua to a duel, and by doing so, discovers a puzzle piece she and Ven were missing.

            Aqua put the book down and rubbed her eyes. Ven hadn’t come back from his break yet, so she hadn’t gotten so involved in what she was reading that she’d missed a meal or bedtime or sunset like she used to. She glanced at the clock, and sure enough, it had only been about forty minutes since he’d left.

            It felt longer.

            Their search still hadn’t netted anything, though they had come across more oblique references to the original Keyblade War. The accounts weren’t very detailed, but there was something about a crossing, some sort of “unions”, and a wanderer. Fascinating, but entirely unhelpful.

            Also unhelpful was the fact that she had arrived in the study that morning to find all her book piles had been reordered to be completely upside down. The “done” and “not done” piles were still all there, every book was accounted for, but they were in the wrong order. It wasn’t something that was a big problem, but it irritated Aqua. Because either someone else had been in here, or she was starting to forget things. Fortunately Ven agreed that the books were in the wrong order, so she could rule out memory problems. And she couldn’t begrudge people for trying to help.

            But she had a _system_.

            It wasn’t worth making a fuss over, so she hadn’t said anything, and merely reorganized the “not done” pile back in the order she’d originally put it in. The “done” pile, of course, didn’t need to be in a particular order. Especially now that she could send Ven to reshelve them instead of doing it herself. He wasn’t familiar enough with the Mysterious Tower’s filing system to realize she had purposefully stacked the books to be efficient to put back. And neither had their nighttime visitor, it appeared.

            She sighed. It was a bit demoralizing, if she was being honest. Saving Ven was easy; there was a concrete goal to work towards, there was a physical journey through Castle Oblivion to undertake, and the job of locating his heart and putting it back in his body had been almost entirely done for her even before she’d been freed from the Realm of Darkness. Yen Sid, Sora, and Riku had been working towards reviving Ven almost as soon as the retired Master had realized Sora held Ven’s heart.

            Terra, though. Terra would be harder. His body was under Xehanort’s control; reviving him wasn’t a matter of restoring his heart to his body as much as it was pushing Xehanort’s heart out of it. And that was assuming Terra’s heart _was_ still with his body.

            She shook her head. No, it had to be. Xehanort couldn’t have pushed him out. Not completely. And they _had_ recompleted. Sora and Riku had killed both Ansem and Xemnas. The Xehanort she’d fought that night in Radiant Garden, the amnesiac, had returned. She knew it, deep in her heart.

            Even so, even if they could find a way to exorcise Xehanort, there was still the matter of finding him. Xehanort knew that Terra was one of their Guardians; had said as much to Mickey in the Realm of Sleep. Such a prize he would guard jealously. There was getting Terra back, and then there was getting _Terra_ back.

            Somehow, she and Ven had to find a way to do both.

            It was… overwhelming.

            How could they do this? How could they outwit a Keyblade Master with decades more experience than both of them combined? How could they steal his own body right out from under him to restore their friend? How could they plan around a person who could pull people out of time on a whim (for how else could his thirteen gather on the fated day, when at least two of them had to be dead for another to exist, and one of them was his own teenage self?)? How could–

            There was a knock at the door.

            “Come in?” Aqua called, shaking herself out of the funk. She became aware that a tear had leaked down her cheek, and she hurriedly wiped it away as the door opened.

            “Hey Aqua!” Sora said, beaming like usual. Honestly, Aqua had thought Ven was perpetually in a good mood, but Sora had him beat. “Wow, it’s a bit more cramped in here than I thought. How’s it going?”

            “Sora? Uh… about as well as it has been. Was there something you needed?”

            Sora stepped into the room, looking around. “Not really. But you’ve been stuck in here for like, three weeks now! Don’t you think you should take a break?”

            Aqua frowned. “Did Ven put you up to this?”

            Sora looked confused. “Up to what?”

            “Or was it Kairi?”

            Sora blinked. “Aqua, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

            “This! Coming in to make me… I don’t know, slow down or take time off!”

            “Aqua, I’m not trying to make you do anything!” Sora said. “Is something wrong?”

            Aqua realized she had dipped into an angry tone without meaning to. She sighed. “I’m sorry, Sora. I didn’t mean to accuse you.” She slumped forwards over the desk. “I just… We haven’t found anything on how to help Terra, Ven and me. And I’m starting to realize just how big a task this is. We barely know where to start with it.”

            “Huh. So, maybe you should step back for a bit,” Sora said.

            “Step back?” Aqua asked, looking up. She was convinced of his innocence, but this was still sounding oddly like the conversation she’d had a week ago with Ven.

            “Yeah! If this is kicking your butt, why don’t you do something else for a while? Clear your head!”

            Aqua took a deep breath, reminding herself that Sora hadn’t been part of her conversations with Ven. He didn’t know, and it was her responsibility to tell him, not to get angry with him for not knowing.

            “Sora, it’s not that simple. I can’t just take a break, not when my friend’s life is hanging in the balance. Terra needs me; needs us, me and Ven,” she corrected herself. Not alone anymore. Remember it. “I can’t afford to stop for any appreciable length of time. Terra is strong. So strong. But he’s been fighting for twelve years. No one could hold out forever, not even him. So I can’t stop. Not while Xehanort still has him.” She looked up at Sora. “Do you understand?”

            He nodded, and carefully cleared off a chair so he could sit down. “Yeah, I think I get it. I’d probably feel the same way, if it was Riku or Kairi or any of my other friends.” He smiled. “Heh. I’d probably feel even worse. I’m not all that great at studying like this.”

            Despite herself, Aqua smiled. “Neither is Ven. But there’s always other ways to help.”

            Sora nodded. “There are!” He grinned. “So maybe you need to do one of those, if all you’re getting here is discouraged!”

            Aqua blinked. “What?”

            “Aqua, I can tell. You’re not losing _hope_ , exactly, but it’s wearing on you the longer you don’t have a plan to help Terra. So, instead of spinning your wheels here, why don’t you try doing something else constructive for a while?”

            “I don’t understand. Something else constructive?”

            Sora flashed his brightest grin. “Fight me!”

            “Excuse me?!”

 

 

            He was, apparently, serious. A short while later Aqua found herself both in a training ring set up in front of the Tower, and entirely confused.

            “Sora, why are we doing this?” she asked as Sora stretched.

            “Because you’re a Keyblade Master, Aqua!” he said. “You’ve gotta know cool stuff that I’ve never even _dreamed_ of before. It’ll be a learning experience!”

            “I can show you how I fight without sparring, though,” she pointed out.

            Sora shrugged. “Yeah, but that’s no fun!”

            “He always was the learn-by-doing type.”

            Aqua turned towards the source of the voice to see Riku leaning against Tower. Next to him were Roxas, Xion, and Ven. As she watched, Naminé also stepped out of the Tower and came up to the field. Lea and Kairi, she recalled, had been sent out with Mickey on a mission.

            “What are you all doing here?” she asked.

            Roxas smirked. “I take great joy in watching Sora get his butt kicked.”

            “Hey!”

            “Personally, I’m curious to see how you fight, too, Aqua,” said Naminé. “I’ve only seen you fight in Castle Oblivion, and it’s not the same.”

            “For me it’s a mix of both reasons,” Riku said, also smirking.

            Sora clutched his hand to his heart. “Riku! That’s mean! I’m gonna tell Kairi!”

            Roxas snorted. “Wow. Nice to see who’s in charge of your relationship.”

            “Roxas, don’t be rude,” Xion scolded, gently but firmly.

            “Sorry, Xi,” he said, cowed. Riku continued smirking.

            Aqua smiled, and sighed, resigned. “All right. If you want to know older techniques that you couldn’t have learned by yourselves, I guess I can oblige you.” She summoned her Keyblade; not Master’s Defender, which she still didn’t feel comfortable claiming ownership of, but Stormfall, _her_ Keyblade.

            “Ven,” she called. “If we’re doing this, we’re doing it properly. Can you referee?”

            Ven nodded, and moved in between them. “Are we doing touches, or a boundary, or..?” he asked.

            “If it’s to demonstrate, until yield,” Aqua decided.

            Ven blinked. “Are… are you sure?”

            “If Sora agrees,” Aqua said. They both looked over at him.

            Sora shrugged. “Sure, no problems with that.” He summoned his Kingdom Key.

            Ven grimaced. “Okay, if you’re sure.” He mumbled something else under his breath that Aqua and Sora couldn’t hear. Riku was close enough to listen in and thought it sounded vaguely like “your funeral”.

            Aqua raised her Keyblade, holding it one-handed up in front of her face. “Sora, we begin by saluting our opponent, the referee, and the audience.” She demonstrated, bringing Stormfall back to her side. She turned to Ven, and repeated the motion: bringing it up to her face, then back down to her side. Turning to Riku and the rest, she repeated it one more time.

            Sora, a little awkwardly, copied her movements.

            Ven raised a hand. “Until yield. Magic is acceptable, but, try not to kill each other, okay?” With a sudden motion, he brought his hand down. “Begin!”

            Both Aqua and Sora fell into ready stances, and Aqua’s eyes widened. His form, she noted, wasn’t exactly standard; a crouch, with his Keyblade held in both hands, pointing on a diagonal.

            Well, he’d survived this long with it, she supposed, and attacked.

            To her reassurance, Sora brought his Keyblade up to block hers effortlessly. Neither of them shook. He smirked.

            “Aqua, are you going easy on me?” he asked, amused.

            She shook her head. “I have to figure out what a proper amount of effort is. I don’t want to hurt you by accident.”

            He grinned. “Aw, come on, Aqua! Hit me like you mean it! I’m tough enough to take it!”

            She raised an eyebrow. “…Okay then. If you’re sure.” She pushed off against him and cartwheeled back to gain some distance. She launched Fire, Thunder, and Blizzard at him in quick succession, over and over again.

            Of course, he was shrugging off low-level spells like that with no problem. “Um, Aqua?” he asked. “You know this isn’t working, right?”

            Oh, it was working. Aqua smirked as her Command Style changed, and she was cloaked in Spellweaver’s purple aura. Sora gasped as she struck him again; he still managed to block it, but this time his arms were shaking. “Oh, Sora,” she said, amused. “Just remember, you asked for it.”

            She rained down blow after blow on him, pushing him back towards the edge of the ring, and past it – their only boundaries were the edges of the Mysterious Tower’s sky island, after all – and he only barely managed to keep up.

            Then she started to spin.

            It was a little mean, she’d admit, but he had asked her to go all out. That included finishers.

            Sora found himself rising up in the air, buoyed on Aqua’s magic, and freezing cold. With a flourish, Aqua dropped him, and her aura dissipated.

            “So that’s what Spellweaver actually is!” Naminé said, excited. “She was using it as a sleight in Castle Oblivion,” she explained to Riku and the rest. “I was wondering what it really was.”

            “So you guys don’t have Command Styles?” Ven asked. “Everyone used them way back when. Even…” he cut himself off, shaking his head.

            “No? We just do what we need to,” Riku said, confused.

            “Huh. Something to teach you guys, then!” Ven said, grinning.

            Meanwhile. Sora was struggling to his feet. “Okay, I get it now, don’t let you cast magic. Got it!” he said, shaking his head to clear it. “Which means–!” he smiled, and charged at her.

            “Which means?” Aqua asked, amused. It was clear there wasn’t anything he could do to where did he go?

            To her shock, instead of striking her, Sora had flipped around behind her. She whirled to face him only to find that he’d moved in sync with her, and still had her back.

            “Reversal,” Roxas noted. “That one he got from me.”

            “Can’t get me if you can’t hit me,” Sora taunted.

            Aqua rolled her eyes, and cast Magnet.

            “Whoa!” Sora gasped as he was yanked away from her. She tossed a couple of Thunders towards him, holding him in place with another Magnet. He eventually managed to break the hold, and scrambled to hit feet to face her, bringing his Keyblade down-

            And through her Ghost Drive afterimage. “Can’t get me if you can’t hit me,” she deadpanned.

            Wisely, he decided to ride out the finisher instead of continuing to attack. The two circled each other, considering what to do next. Aqua sent a Blizzara across the ground towards Sora. He dodged it, then got a peculiar look in his eye.

            Grinning, he said, “Well, if you’re showing the best you’ve got, might as well do the same!” And to her surprise, he leapt onto the trail of ice.

            A magenta glow suffused his body, and he slid along the ice, faster than Aqua was expecting. “What–?” she barely had time to ask before he was next to her, slashing at her.

            For the first time, the hit connected, and sent her reeling. Sora pressed the attack, jumping into the air and slamming his Keyblade into the ground.

            Aqua was tossed into the air from the shockwave.

            “Um?” Ven asked, wide-eyed.

            “I have no idea,” Roxas said. “Riku?”

            Riku smiled. “It’s called Flowmotion. We learned it in the Realm of Sleep.” He tilted his head in consideration. “We could probably teach it to you guys, if you wanted to learn.”

            Still in midair, Aqua righted herself. “Okay, no more Ms. Nice Aqua,” she muttered, and started focusing on Sora.

            Riku stiffened upon hearing the targeting noise coming from her Keyblade. “Wait a second. Where have I seen this before?”

            “Shotlocking?” Ven asked.

            Riku started, and looked at him. “That’s right.” He leaned in, emphasising his height advantage. “ _Someone_ used it on me in Sora’s heart.”

            Ven paled. “Hey, I owed him twelve years’ rent and it was all I could do to repay him?” he said, smiling but worried.

            Riku chuckled, and leaned back. “Something else to teach?”

            “Sure!”

            Aqua had finished locking on, and spun in place again. Sora was buffeted by waves of light energy, tossing him into the air.

            Both of them slammed into the ground and lay there, stunned at what they’d seen. Ven raised an eyebrow. “One of you guys has to yield for me to declare an end, you realize,” he called.

            Aqua and Sora both looked at each other, still flat on their backs in the dirt, and burst out laughing. “I think we’ll call this one a draw, Ven,” Aqua said.

            “Sounds good,” Sora agreed. “Aqua, that was so fun!”

            “You know what? It was,” she admitted, still smiling. She felt less stressed.

            “There’s a bunch of stuff I want to learn from you!” he continued. “Like that ‘Shotlocking’ thing and that thing with the aura?”

            “Command Styles,” Aqua said. “Ven can teach you those things, too.”

            “Nice!” Sora sat up. “Though, I’ve been wondering. Are there any techniques you know where you transform your Keyblade into something else?”

            Aqua blinked, also sitting up. “There’s our gliders. Is that what you meant?”

            Sora shook his head. “I guess, but what about turning it into another weapon, like a cannon or something?”

            “A cannon?” Aqua asked. Why did that sound familiar? “Why do you ask?”

            “Well, about a year ago, Donald, Goofy, and I found this weird portal to another world in Disney Castle. It lead to this weird desert, and there was this statue or something that attacked us on sight. I thought it had a Keyblade, but it did all sorts of weird stuff, like turning it into a cannon.” They both got back to their feet.

            “A statue?” Aqua asked.

            Sora shrugged. “Or a suit of armour, it was hard to tell. It was gold and red, and it had a cape. Oh, and the helmet looked like it had horns, or bunny ears.”

            …What.

            Aqua lunged towards him and grabbed Sora’s arms. “Where was it?” she demanded, intense.

            “Whoa. Aqua, you okay?” Sora asked. Aqua shook her head.

            “Ven!” she called. “Put on your armour!”

            He blinked. “Why..?”

            “Just _do_ it!”

            Ven was taken aback by the intensity in her voice. “O…kay…” he said, and pressed the activation plate.

            “Sora,” Aqua demanded. “Did it look like a larger version of that?”

            Sora studied Ven’s armour. “Kind of? I mean, the colours were different, but–”

            “What world?” Aqua interrupted. “Where was it?”

            “I… I’m not sure.” Sora said. “I could take you there, I think.”

            Aqua nodded. “Ven!” she said. “We’re going with Sora.”

            “I’m sorry, what is this about?” Riku asked. Roxas, Xion, and Naminé also looked concerned.

            Aqua spun to look at them. “If Sora has seen armour like this, then…

            “He’s found Terra’s armour.”

 

 

            In a desolate wasteland, remarkable only for the large number of broken, scattered, and abandoned Keyblades that littered the ground, a Light Corridor swirled into being.

            “Yep, it was here,” Sora said, stepping out and looking around. “I think it was in that cul-de-sac in the mountain?” he added. “Or, maybe not. Didn’t get much of a chance to look around last time I was here.”

            Aqua and Ventus followed him through the Corridor and froze.

            “What’s up?” Sora asked.

            Aqua couldn’t answer him. Ven looked at him and took a deep breath. “Sora, this is the Keyblade Graveyard,” he said, quietly.

            “…Oh. I’m sorry,” Sora said, subdued.

            “It’s okay,” Aqua said. “It makes sense for it to still be here.” She also took a deep breath. “Up ahead?”

            Thankfully, the path took them away from the sea of broken Keyblades. Sora led the way. Subtly, Ven reached out and took Aqua’s hand. She couldn’t tell if he needed comfort, or was trying to comfort her.

            It could easily be both. She was okay with that. It was both for her, too.

            Sora stopped just before the opening in the rock face. “Here,” he said. Aqua and Ven peered around the corner to see a kneeling figure, Keyblade rammed into the dirt tip-first before it. It was indeed a set of Keyblade armour.

            It was indeed Terra’s armour.

            “Terra!” Ven yelled, and rushed forwards before Sora could stop him, Aqua hot on his heels.

            The second they stepped foot inside the opening, the armour jerked up as if pulled on a string. A single word rumbled through the air, less spoken, more _felt_.

              Xeha…nort  ?

            “No, Terra, it’s us, me and Aqua!” Ven cried.

              Xehanort  !

            The armour rose to its feet, and rushed at them. Aqua and Ven barely had enough time to summon their Keyblades to parry, wincing at the blow. Terra had never been that strong before.

            “Terra, please, it’s us!” Aqua pleaded. “Don’t… don’t make me do this again…”

              Aqua  ?  Ven  ?

            The armour stopped, and lowered its Keyblade.

            “Terra?” Ven whispered, hopeful.

              The  two  of  you  are  safe  ?  I  thought  Xehanort  and  Vanitas..?

            “No, no, they didn’t kill us,” Aqua reassured him. “Ven’s heart was shattered by the fight with Vanitas, and it retreated to heal.”

              Retreated  ?  Where  ?

            “Um, hi!” Sora said, poking his head around the corner. “I, uh, met Ven the first time his heart got broken, and he came back to me after… all that.”

            “Sora, it’s okay, you can get closer,” Aqua said.

            “Mmmm, mmmm, no. No, I’m good back here,” Sora said.

              So  that’s  why  you  seemed  familiar.  I’m  sorry  for  trying  to  kill  you  that  one  time, Terra said.

            Sora waved a hand. “Water under the bridge.” He still refused to get any closer.

              Aqua,  what  happened  to  you  ?  I  remember  talking  to  you  after  all  of  this,  but  you  said  you  were  lost  in  darkness  ?

            Aqua nodded. “After leaving Ven in a safe place, I followed Xehanort to Radiant Garden. We fought, and I won, but he began to slip into the Realm of Darkness. He still had your body, I couldn’t let him go, so… I pulled him out, but couldn’t get out myself. It’s been…”

              Twelve  years.  I  know. I’m  not  upset  with  you,  Aqua.  You  did  the  best  you  could  to  fix  my  mistakes.

            Aqua sniffed. “Don’t take sole blame, Terra. I made plenty of my own.”

            There was a grinding sound, and it took Aqua and Ven a second to recognize laughter.  That  is  true,  Terra admitted.  We  all  messed  up.

            “But now, we have a chance to fix it!” Ven said, excited. “Terra, if your heart is here, then–!”

              I’m  sorry  Ven,  but  it’s  not  that  simple,  Terra said.  My  heart  is  only  partially  here.  Most  of  it  is  still  in  my  body.  Fighting  Xehanort.  This  is  only  a  lingering  fragment  of  my  will.

            “Do you know where your body is, Terra?” Aqua asked.

              Sorry,  Aqua,  but  no.  The  connection  doesn’t  work  like  that. This  piece  of  me  is  bound  to  the  Graveyard.  I  can’t  leave  it.  And  I’m  not  awake  all  the  time, Terra said.

            Aqua hugged the armour, as best she could. “I’m sorry we can’t do more for you, Terra,” she said, tears starting to mist in her eyes.

              Aqua,  Ven,  just  knowing  the  both  of  you  are  safe  means  so  much  to  me, Terra said.  It  gives  me  the  strength  to  keep  fighting.

            “We’re not just safe. We’re going to figure out a way to get you back,” Ven declared, joining Aqua in the awkward hug. “It’s a promise!”

              When  did  you  get  so  grown  up  ? Terra laughed.  I’m  so  proud  of  both  of  you.

            Aqua couldn’t stop the tears at that point. It made her feel a bit better that neither could Ven.

              Sora  ? Terra asked, calling to the other boy, still partially hiding at the mouth of the opening.

            “Yeah?”

              Take  care  of  them  until  I  get  back,  please,  Terra said.

            Sora beamed. “Of course! It’s a promise!”

            Terra laughed again.  No  wonder  Ven  was  drawn  to  you,  he said.  Aqua,  Ven,  when  you  find  my  body,  bring  it  back  here.  Need  to  reunite  my  heart…

            He was starting to fade.

            “Terra,” Aqua gasped, through her tears.

            “Terra,” Ven echoed, eyes also glistening.

              The  three  of  us  can  never  be  torn  apart,  Terra declared.  I’ll  see  you  both  again.

            The armour sat back down, resuming its vigil over the Graveyard. Aqua felt numb, and as if she was about to fall over, until Ven grabbed her, leaning into her shoulder, bawling his eyes out.

            At the feeling of another person joining their hug, they both started, and Sora jerked back. “Sorry, but you both looked like you needed someone to–” he started, but they both latched on to him as the solid rock in the eye of the storm.

            He let them hold on to him as long as they needed. “I’m sorry,” he said. “If I knew it would hurt you two this much to be here–”

            “We would have insisted you bring us anyway,” Aqua interrupted, Ven nodding along. “Sora, we needed this. We – I, needed to know Terra wasn’t gone forever.”

            “Yeah. Like he said, knowing he’s still here… it’s motivating, you know? This isn’t hopeless,” Ven agreed.

            “Hey, it was never hopeless!” Sora argued. “But yeah, I get it. What should we do now?”

            Aqua took a deep breath. “I’m going to continue the research. Even if all we need to do for Terra is bring him here, that won’t work for this Isa person Lea wants to save. Castle Oblivion,” she explained, at Sora’s confused look.

            “Oh, gotcha.”

            “We should also take some time to teach what we know, Aqua,” Ven pointed out. “Plus that Flowmotion thingy looked like fun. I’d like to see what it can do,” he added, smiling at Sora.

            Sora beamed. “Sure!”

            The group made their way back to Sora’s Light Corridor. Aqua took one last look at Terra, frozen as dust swirled past him.

            She wanted to come back, and see him again. But, she knew that that wasn’t a smart idea. There was no guarantee he’d be able to manifest, and even if he could, there was no progress to be made on getting him back by sitting with him here.

            Plus, even if she wanted to do that, there was one thing standing in her way.

            They stepped out back at the Mysterious Tower, and Ven headed up to the top of the Tower to tell Yen Sid where they’d been, and what they’d learned. Sora made to follow him, but Aqua grabbed his wrist.

            “Aqua? What’s up?” he asked.

            Aqua let his wrist go. “It occurred to me. There’s something very important that I’ve neglected to do.”

            “What’s that?”

            “Sora, can you teach me how to make Light Corridors?”

            Sora looked at her in surprise, and grinned. “Wow, Aqua. Thought you’d never ask!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The prompt I wrote myself for this chapter was just Sora and Aqua sparring. That's ALL it was supposed to be.  
> But, if you give a mouse a cookie, it'll write an award-winning children's book series, and if you show Sora flashy Keyblade techniques, he'll start to ponder where he's seen them before. So I couldn't stop this from snowballing into a visit to the Keyblade Graveyard.   
> I've never actually done the Lingering Will boss fight, so I don't think it actually is where I claimed it is. But I don't think that's entirely important. Sora needed something to hide behind, anyway.  
> The title of this fic comes from a [song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6EsgdphegU). This is literally everything I know about Final Fantasy IX. It's gotten me through some things, though I'll admit I'm somewhat dreading Vivi's story when I get to FFIX. Seems like it's a tearjerker.   
> Well, I hope you're ready for three straight chapters of Roxas/Xion. Because that's what you're getting next.


	6. The Fourteenth's Struggle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xion finally admits to Roxas what she's so afraid of, but her fears may be less founded than she thinks.

            Xion stared at the ceiling. It was night, and Roxas was asleep next to her in their conjoined bed. The sound of his breathing was usually a comfort, but not tonight.

            It was torture. It was torture because it was nice. Because it was good. Because she was happy.

            Because she didn’t know when it would end.

            But it would.

            Of course it would.

            She wasn’t who he was meant to be with.

            There was no way this could end but tragedy.

            She raised a hand, held it out in front of her, staring at it. Why put off the inevitable? Why hadn’t it happened yet? How long did this have to go on before she was tossed aside?

            She was in the particular position of both expecting the worst and believing it could be put off if she didn’t acknowledge it. As long as she didn’t rock the boat, nothing would change.

            But that assumes there’s no tide. Xion alone couldn’t hold back what was going to happen. Things move, things change, whether one is prepared or not.

            No matter what, the tides go out.

            And there was no way to prepare for this.

            A single tear leaked out of her eye, and she quickly wiped it away. No, no, she couldn’t do that. Roxas would know. She couldn’t let him.

            _Why not?_ asked a voice. _He would want to know. He cares for you. He wants you to be happy._ She couldn’t decide if it sounded more like Goofy, or like Sora’s mother. She sighed.

            “Xion? Something wrong? You’re still up.”

            She froze. Roxas lifted a hand to his eyes, rubbing the sleep out, and turned to face her.

            “N–” she started, and stopped. How long? How long until things changed, until it was too late, until she was asked to leave?

            But, on the other hand, how long was she going to torture herself like this?

            How long was she going to pretend nothing was wrong? How long was she going to hide this from the boy she loved? How long was she going to keep herself alone?

            She was tired of this.

            “Roxas?” she asked.

            “Yeah?”

            “I… I need to talk to you,” she said, and let the tears go. “I… I didn’t say anything before because I didn’t want… I…”

            He slowly reached over and wrapped his arms around her. “Shhhh, it’s okay,” he said, patiently. “If you want we can wait until morn–”

            “How long are we going to be together?”

            Roxas froze. “…what do you mean?” he asked. Xion’s breath caught. He sounded as scared as she felt.

            “Roxas, what am I to you? Am I just… convenient? Just a placeholder? And if I am, how long is this… going to… last..?” She could barely get the words out though her sobs.

            He held her tighter. “Xion, I don’t understand. What… who would you be a placeholder for? Where is this coming from?”

            She looked up at him, seeing the concern barely concealing the panic in his eyes. “‘So, we can be together again. Anytime Sora and Kairi are together’,” she said, in a dull tone. “What was that supposed to _mean_ , Roxas? You didn’t remember me at the time, I know. But _she_ did.”

            “Naminé? I don’t understand, what’s hurting you? Was it… was it something I did?” Roxas asked.

            Xion shook her head. Clearer, she had to be clearer. With effort, she pulled herself together enough to get out, “Are you only here with me because you couldn’t be with Naminé?”

            Roxas’s eyes widened. “No,” he declared, intense. “No, I’m with you because I want to be with _you_.”

            “Then what was all that about? A-about being together… with her?” Xion demanded, pushing herself away from him. Anger didn’t stop the tears.

            “I… Xion, we were both about to be stuck in Sora and Kairi, likely forever,” Roxas said. He didn’t yell, didn’t shout. He was being patient, and Xion felt a pang of guilt for how she was feeling, when he was so calm. “All I meant was that she didn’t have to be alone. That even if we weren’t in the same place, I would still be her friend. That’s all.” He looked down at his hands. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Me not knowing you were there… doesn’t make it okay.” He looked back up at her. “I don’t know how I can prove it to you, but you’re the only person I want to be with. If you can’t believe me, I don’t know what I can do to convince you.” He sounded about as bad as she felt.

            Xion shivered. “I’m sor–” she started, but Roxas cut her off.

            “No, no, don’t apologize when I’m the one who was hurting you. Don’t apologize for how you feel!” he insisted. Gently, he reached for her hands. She let him take them, both of them drawing strength from the touch.

            Xion tried again. “Roxas, you didn’t do anything. But I’ve been… waiting, for something to change. For this, for us, to suddenly end. I’ve been dreading it, because I thought it was inevitable. That you’d ask me to leave.”

            “I wouldn’t!” Roxas insisted. “I would never…” he sighed. “Only if you asked me to. That’s the only way I’d ever leave you, if it was what you wanted.”

            “I don’t want that!” Xion burst out. “I want you! I want to be with you! But… there’s this whole _thing_ between you and Naminé, and I don’t know what it is, and she’s so… and I’m just…” She cut herself off, sobs wracking her body.

            Roxas leaned forwards and wrapped his arms around her again. She let him. Gently, he leaned them both backwards until they were lying on the bed, her head against his chest. “You’re you. That’s what I love about you. I never sat on the clocktower, watching the sunset and eating ice cream with Naminé. I never helped Naminé get her Keyblade back. Naminé never left seashells for me when I was sick.

            “The _thing_ between me and Naminé, if there is one, is probably because we were created at the same time, from the same people. We’re both made from parts of Sora, and apparently, parts of Ventus.” He pulled a lock of his hair out to where he could see it and grimaced at the colour. “That’s it. That, and maybe ten minutes of conversation that you weren’t present for. That’s all.” He looked down, and ran his fingers through her hair. “Xion, you’re my best friend. I love you. I want to be with _you_ , not Naminé, not anyone else.”

            Xion sniffed. “I want to believe you, but I’m scared.”

            Roxas grimaced. “I don’t know how to help you not be scared. I’m sorry.” Something occurred to him. “How about this? Talk to Naminé tomorrow.”

            “Huh?”

            “Talk to Naminé. Tell her about this. Get her side of the story. Because I don’t think she likes me like that. And I don’t like her like that – the way I like you.” He patted her head, gently.

            Xion hugged him, tight. “Okay. I’m sorry that I–”

            He hugged her back. “No. You don’t need to be sorry.”

            “–that I left it this long.”

            “Oh.” Roxas squeezed her.

            “I didn’t want you to worry about me.”

             “I get it, it’s okay. But if something’s wrong, I can’t help you if I don’t know. You worry about me, right? You need to let me do the same for you.”

            Xion couldn’t meet his eyes. “I’m worried you’re going to think that I thought I couldn’t trust you with this.”

            He patted her head. “You told me. We’re still new at this. We’ll get better at it.”

            She sniffed. “Roxas?”

            “Yeah, Xion?”

            “I love you. You know that, right?”

            “I do. And I love you, too.”

 

 

            Right after breakfast the next morning, Xion went to find Naminé. She found the other girl in a little nook that had been added to the Tower’s grounds, a table and a set of benches, which no one had actually used for eating at yet. Naminé was scowling at the sketchpad in her hand, twirling a pencil in her fingers.

            “Naminé, do you have a minute?” Xion asked.

            Naminé looked up, grateful for the distraction. “Of course, Xion. I’m trying to sketch the Tower, but _apparently_ ” – she glared at the sketchpad – “I can’t art today. What’s up?” She gestured at one of the other benches and Xion sat down. There was a curious look on Xion’s face, and Naminé couldn’t quite read it. “Is something wrong?”

            Xion grimaced. “I don’t know. I’ve been worried that something is. But I’m hoping I’m wrong.”

            Naminé cocked her head, and turned the page of her sketchpad. “Do you want to start from the beginning?”

            “Do you like Roxas?”

            Naminé blinked. “Yes? I mean, he can be kind of a grump sometimes, but he’s usually okay. I consider him a friend. Why..?”

            Xion shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “So you’re not… in love… with him?”

            Naminé stared at her. “Xion, I don’t think this is starting from the beginning. What?”

            Xion sniffed, and tears started to leak down her cheeks. “I… It’s…” she started, and Naminé reached out to take her hand.

            “It’s okay,” she said. “I’m your friend. You can tell me.”

            It spilled out, everything Xion had been afraid of, everything concerning Roxas and Naminé and the weird connection they shared. Naminé held her hand through all of it, contemplating how to address her fears.

            “I’ll start by saying I don’t have any romantic feelings towards Roxas, whatsoever. I never have,” she said.

            “Then what did it mean? ‘So we can be together’?”

            Naminé looked down at their hands. “Xion… I said that, because it’s what I thought Roxas needed to hear. I didn’t think any of us would still exist after rejoining with Sora and Kairi. I was resigned to that. I had convinced myself that’s what I wanted. And Roxas… he didn’t seem to get it. So, I played along. That was all.”

            Xion didn’t look comforted. “…In the Datascape in Disney Castle, the data versions of you and Roxas are together,” she said, dully.

            “Oh? Well, good for them. They’re not us,” Naminé said. “They’re their own people, with their own feelings. And apparently, their own orientations,” she added, half to herself.

            Xion heard it anyway. “Their own… what?” she asked, confused.

            Naminé smiled. “Well, that’s another reason you don’t need to be worried. I’m not interested in Roxas, because I _can’t_ be interested in Roxas. I don’t like boys that way.”

            Xion stared at her. “What do you mean?”

            Naminé tried again. “I like girls. Only girls. Not boys.”

            Xion still looked dumbfounded. “I don’t understand? Just girls? Why not boys, too?”

            Abruptly, several things lined up for Naminé.

            Point the first: Xion had been created as a Replica of Sora, but her appearance and bearing had been greatly informed by Sora’s impressions of Kairi.

            Point the second: Sora was, obviously, either bi or pansexual, given that he was dating both Riku and Kairi.

            Point the third: No matter how in denial she was, Kairi was obviously bisexual.

            Question: Would Sora have picked up on Kairi being bisexual, oblivious as he could sometimes be?

            Consideration: Kairi was incredibly obvious about being bisexual, to the extent where she was the only person who wasn’t aware of it.

            Answer: He might not be actively aware of it, but Sora had incredible subconscious perception and intuition. He’d at least be subconsciously aware of it, if not consciously.

            Point the fourth: Any sexual education Xion had would have come from either Lea, or Sora’s mother.

            Point the fifth: Lea had had no reason to discuss sexuality with either of them, since as Nobodies lacking emotional connections, it wouldn’t have been relevant.

            Point the sixth: Sora’s mother had met Xion only just before she and Roxas started dating, so she would have assumed anything relating to that had already been figured out.

            Point the seventh: Xion’s comments indicated she was likely, without knowing the terms for it, also bisexual.

            Point the eighth: Xion would have had no reason to question her worldview, since the only relationships she was exposed to with regularity was her own, and Sora, Kairi, and Riku’s.

            Conclusion: Xion had no idea it was possible to be attracted to only people of the same gender as oneself, or only people of a different gender than oneself.

            “Oh boy. Um, I’m just not built like that? Some people only like boys, or girls. Not both,” Naminé said. “Like, Lea, for example. He only likes boys. And Aqua. She only likes boys, too, I think.”

            Xion looked thunderstruck by this new information. “Really? But… why?” she asked.

            That… wasn’t a question Naminé felt like she could answer this early in the morning. “You know what?” she asked, a mischievous smile tugging at her lips. “That’s a question you should ask _Lea_.” She squeezed Xion’s hand, in the comforting way Kairi would squeeze hers. “Does that make you feel better, though? Knowing that not only do I not _want_ to steal Roxas from you, but that I _can’t_ want to?”

            Xion nodded. “I’m not sure I get it completely, but yes, it does make me feel better. Thank you.”

            Naminé smiled, and pulled her hand back. Her smile widened, dangerously. “If anything, Roxas should be worried I’d steal _you_ ,” she teased.

            She’d never seen someone’s face both turn red _and_ drain of colour before, but Xion managed it. “Um, Naminé, I’m flattered, but I’m with Roxas, and anyway I think of you like a sister so I feel like that’s a bit inappropriate and–”

            “Xion, Xion, I was teasing!” Naminé cut her off, apologetic. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable!”

            “Oh. Okay.” Xion calmed down, staring off into the distance. She flushed, briefly, and shook her head to clear it. “Thank you for hearing me out.”

            Naminé smiled. “Anytime. Sorry again for making it weird.”

            Xion smiled back, and stood up. “I’m going to go find Lea. I still don’t think I get it.”

            “Have fun,” Naminé said, and waved as she walked away. She looked down at her sketchpad, and realized she had an idea. Grinning, she picked up her pencil, and sometime later the page bore an image of Roxas and Xion, looking at each other, and smiling.

            “Happy for them,” she murmured. “Lonely, but happy for them.” She sat back and sighed, fingering the Pulsian string of beads that now hung from the binding of her sketchpad. “‘Better to have loved and lost…’” She frowned. “I’ve got to find better people to flirt with.”

 

 

            Roxas stared at the bookshelf. He was in the common room/lounge area that the Tower had placed a floor or two (he could swear it varied sometimes) down from the dormitory. The room contained several comfortable chairs and couches, and the walls were nearly covered with bookshelves.

            He had to admit, he was nervous about the results of Xion’s talk with Naminé. Not that he thought that Naminé did have a thing for him, but he was worried that it wouldn’t be enough to resolve Xion’s fears. If it wasn’t… he had no idea what to do.

            Which is why he was trying to find that book he’d been reading, to distract himself. He knew it was on this shelf, but apparently since he’d last been here someone had completely reordered it. The books weren’t even in any particular order, either; previously they were alphabetically arranged by author and then by series, now there seemed to be no rhyme or reason. And it looked like the one he was reading wasn’t even on this shelf anymore.

            He started as the book he was looking for slid down in front of his face. “Looking for this?”

            Roxas spun around. “Axel? When did you get back?”

            Lea grinned. “Just after breakfast. Mission accomplished, and all that. Just got out of reporting to the old man.” He cocked his head, giving Roxas an appraising glance. “You all right? Looks like something’s got you on edge.”

            Roxas opened and closed his mouth. “…Actually, yeah. Something is. Can I talk to you for a bit?”

            “Hey, anytime,” Lea said, gesturing at one of the couches. They sat down. “What’s up?”

            “It’s… about Xion,” Roxas admitted, and explained what had happened the previous night.

            “Ouch,” Lea remarked when he had finished. “She’s been carrying that since you guys started dating? That’s rough.”

            “It is,” Roxas agreed. “And… Axel, I had no idea she was feeling that way. I… I feel like I fucked up.”

            “How so?” Lea asked.

            Roxas shrugged. “I love her. I’m almost always with her. No offense, but she’s the person I’m closest to. I… I should have known about this earlier. Should have seen she was hurting.” He looked down at his hands. “And I should know what to do to make things better. And I don’t. I don’t know what to do.”

            Lea reached out and wrapped an arm around Roxas. “Did Xion know what to do?” he asked, gently.

            “No?” Roxas said, confused.

            “So, why should you?” Lea asked.

            Roxas blinked. “She… she came to me with a problem. Why wouldn’t I be supposed to know the answer?”

            “Maybe ‘cause you’re just as new and inexperienced as she is?” Lea suggested. “Rox, sometimes people just need you to listen. I don’t think she was expecting you to have an airtight solution to what was bothering her. Did she say why she didn’t tell you about this earlier?”

            “She didn’t want me to worry.”

            Lea nodded. “Yeah, doesn’t sound like she thought you could fix everything if she brought it up.” He frowned. “You guys had the whole ‘I’d rather worry about you than think nothing’s wrong’ talk with each other, right? ‘Cause that’s an important one.”

            Roxas nodded. “Yeah.”

            “All right. So there was no reason for you to have an answer for her. Did you guys talk about what to do about this?”

            “I told her… well, that I wasn’t sure what to do to fix it, but also I suggested she ask Naminé about it. That’s what she’s doing right now. While I’m sitting on my hands waiting.” He didn’t say “again” but it was heavily implied.

            Lea patted him on the back. “Sometimes that’s all you can do. That, and talk to someone else that you trust about it, if it’s not too personal.” He gestured towards himself.

            “I guess… But I wish I could be doing more for her,” Roxas said, subdued.

            There was an unreadable expression on Lea’s face. Someone who didn’t know him as well as Roxas did might have called it a smile. “Yeah, well, you love her. Love makes you feel like that. Makes you do dumb things for the people you care about, too.”

            Roxas frowned. “Axel, is there something–”

            The common room door swung open, and he forgot what he was saying as Xion walked in. “Xion! How did it go?” he asked.

            Xion looked a little unsteady, but gave him a genuine smile. “Well, she agrees that she’s not interested. So, I guess I don’t need to worry about that, since both of you say so.”

            Roxas stood up and hugged her. “I’m sorry for not noticing sooner.”

            She shook her head. “I didn’t give you anything to notice. I’m sorry, too.”

            “Communication’s a two-way street,” Lea interjected. “That said, some things you gotta take on faith. How are you doing, Xion?”

            “Better than I was,” she said, with another smile at Roxas. “Oh, that reminds me! Lea, when I was talking with Naminé, she said some things that I didn’t really understand. She said you might be able to explain better?”

            Lea frowned, confused. “Uh, sure? What was it?”

            “Well, she said she didn’t like boys? At all?”

            “Wait, she doesn’t?” Roxas asked. “How?”

            Xion shrugged. “I don’t know, that’s why she said to ask Lea. Also, that you only like boys?”

            Lea’s eyes had widened to the point where they were almost popping out. “Yeah, that’s… true.”

            “Really?” Roxas asked. “Boys, but not girls? Weird.”

            “Hey. It’s not weird, just different.” Lea blinked, suddenly realizing what their comments implied. “Wait, are you two both..?”

            “Both what?” Roxas asked.

            Lea shook his head. “You know what, we’ll get to that. Sit down, this is gonna be kind of a long talk.”

            And while they talked, he’d figure out how to get back at Naminé for this.

            Oh well. At least Xion was feeling better. His friends knew what the problem was, and they’d face it together.

            He was proud of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I'm a little bemused and quite amused at the people saying they were looking forwards to the Roxas/Xion stuff. You guys did remember where I left off with their relationship, right? After fal-tor-pan, I felt guilty knowing I was going to blindside you all with Make My Wish Come True, but really. This was going to happen at some point soon.  
> But, it all turned out okay, and the next two chapters are going to be mostly fluff. Ish. Any drama won't be relationship woes. Sort of.   
> ...I think I should quit this statement while I'm ahead. Nothing is wrong between Roxas and Xion anymore, is the takeaway.   
> I actually have a confession to make regarding Roxas (and since I've got not much else to talk about...). Remember how I said Days was my first game, I didn't know Xion was doomed, I didn't know the Organization were the bad guys, etc? Well... I was presented with a character with no memories, no past, and who was completely clueless about the world and also the playable character.  
> Ah hah, said fourteen-year-old me, this must be the character you're supposed to self-insert into.   
> So I kind of spent a while not realizing that Roxas was a character, or that he even _had_ a character. (I figured it out before I finished the game, don't worry) So I've kind of had to figure out how to write him on the fly, since I didn't really pick up on his personality while playing Days. But, I think I've got a good grasp on him/how I want to write him after this fic.   
>  If anyone's curious enough to ask, I will write out the sexualities of the characters living in the Tower thus far; but you do have to ask. I just thought it was amusing that Roxas and Xion would have no idea what heterosexuality was, given their upbringing.


	7. Seeing the Heart in Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riku and Xion start training together, and Kairi teaches Roxas a new skill.

            “Riku, are you sure about this?” Xion asked, studying what he’d given her.

            Riku shrugged. “I understand if you don’t feel comfortable doing it with me, but we didn’t want to force you to do it with Roxas, either, Maybe Lea would–?”

            She shook her head. “No, no, that’s not it. Are you sure we should start training before I get my Keyblade back?”

            Riku had approached her with a pair of wooden swords, saying that Yen Sid had suggested she and Roxas should get back in fighting form, even if neither had had any luck summoning their Keyblades. Xion had agreed, though she didn’t know where Roxas was at the moment, so the two were getting ready to start without him.

            Riku shrugged. “Hey, all that playfighting Sora and I did growing up definitely helped when it came to the real thing. I don’t think it’d hurt.”

            “I guess,” Xion said, unenthused. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the concept of sparring, it was the fact that, try as they might, hers and Roxas’s Keyblades hadn’t come back. Yen Sid and Aqua were both certain they would, but Xion didn’t have the Masters’ confidence. It didn’t help that Ventus had been able to summon his since a couple days after they’d arrived at the Tower.

            But, this was better than nothing. “Ready when you are,” she said, taking a stance and sizing Riku up.

            Something about the way she was standing was familiar to Riku, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He took up his stance, and gestured at her to begin.

            Xion charged, swinging the wooden sword, and Riku dodged out of the way, lightly tapping her sword with his. “Try again,” he taunted, and she whipped her sword back up towards him, scraping the back of his hand.

            “Try what again?” she asked, sweetly.

            Riku shook his head and chuckled. Right, he’d forgotten Xion actually had a year’s worth of combat experience. They weren’t starting from square one here.

            “Well, if I don’t _have_ to go easy on you...” he said, and lunged towards her. Xion was successfully able to parry his strike, and followed through the motion to whirl around and slash at him. He leapt backwards, but she was right there, and he was only barely able to block her blows.

            “Hey, not half bad,” he said.

            “Better than last time, huh? Not exactly fighting fire with sparks anymore, right?” she asked, sounding a little bitter.

            “Oh… uh…” Riku stammered, and Xion, with a grin that was much nastier than he ever expected her capable of, slid past him and whacked him on the backside.

            “Wow, Riku. A little guilt trip and your guard just vanishes,” she said, smirking, bitterness having disappeared completely.

            Riku stared. “You… on purpose?” he demanded.

            Xion shrugged. “There’s fighting fair, then there’s fighting to not lose no matter what. There’s some standards you have to throw out the window if it means not dying. Especially if your opponent is better than you. And… yeah.”

            Riku frowned. “That sounds like Lea.”

            Xion nodded. “Yep. I know you probably don’t agree, but…”

            “I don’t, but I see his logic,” Riku said. “Again?”

            The two took up their stances and began slowly circling each other. They moved as one, and hit a perfect rhythm where each strike was blocked, returned, and parried. They broke apart, both panting, but also grinning.

            “Not bad. It might take me more than a single hit to beat you this time,” Riku teased.

            “Get real!” Xion scoffed. “Look which one of us is winning!”

            There was a single moment of silence before her brain caught up with what had just left her mouth.

            She dropped the wooden sword, and staggered backwards, hands clasped tightly over her mouth like she was trying not to be sick. She fell to her knees, and looked at the ground, horrified, stare a thousand meters long.

            “Xion? Xion!” Riku hurried to her side. “It’s okay, it’s–”

            “How can you _say_ that?!” she demanded, looking up at him with tears in her eyes. “I’m supposed to be _me!_ No one else! But I still…!”

            “They’re just words,” Riku said. “It doesn’t mean anything.” Now he was beginning to understand why her stance was so familiar.

            It was Sora’s. Down to the smallest detail.

            “You don’t understand,” she insisted. “I… know I fight like him. I’ve known since watching him and Aqua. But… I thought that was it. I thought I was just… _me_ , now.”

            “You _are_ you!” Riku insisted. “Look, this doesn’t mean–” He cut himself off, sighed, and sat down next to her. She had curled into a ball, still staring at the ground.

            “Do you know what Sora would say, if he knew you fight like he does?” he asked.

            Xion shook her head.

            “It would probably be something along the lines of…” Riku put on a giant smile and raised the tone of his voice, in a not-perfect but scarily close impression of Sora. “‘Ha, take that, Riku! I can teach just as well as you even in my sleep!’”

            Despite herself, Xion couldn’t help but giggle, both at the voice and at the expression on Riku’s face.

            “You got some stuff from Sora. That’s not really something you can help. But, none of us hold it against you. We all learn from each other; hell, look at the teaching Ven’s been doing.” Riku didn’t quite have command styles down yet, but his Shotlocking was coming along nicely. “But, the longer you’re alive, the more experiences you have, the more you’ll be different from him. You’re not a reflection of Sora, Xion. You never were. And you never will be again.”

            Xion looked visibly more relaxed. “Thank you, Riku,” she said. She stood back up, and picked up her practice sword. “…You realize I’m still going to do my best to kick your butt, though,” she added, nonchalantly.

            Riku smiled, and rose to his feet. “Xion, I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

 

 

            “So _this_ is where you’ve been hiding!”

            Roxas started out of his reverie. He was on one of the highest balconies of the Mysterious Tower, or at least he thought he was. He wasn’t quite sure if the Tower actually had a roof, or if it just continued infinitely upwards. But this was pretty high up. It reminded him of the clocktower in Twilight Town, which was sort of comforting when he needed time alone.

            He was not “brooding”. No matter what Axel called it.

            “Kairi?” he asked, confused to see his visitor. “What are you doing here?”           

            “Riku was looking for you,” she explained. “What are you doing up here? Brooding again?”

            “I do not _brood!_ ” he protested, but Kairi sat herself down beside him.

            “So you say, but it looks like you need to talk about something. You can tell Aunt Kairi anything!” She grinned, and he scowled.

            “…Xion and I had… not a fight, but… a thing,” he admitted, and explained the situation. Kairi listened attentively, wincing at parts.

            “…She and Naminé are more alike than I thought,” she said, when he was through. “It sounds like you two handled things okay, though. So what’s eating you?”

            Roxas sighed. “I want… to do something special for her, you know? To show her how important she is to me. But, I don’t know what.” Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Kairi’s expression, and did a double take.

            She was grinning as broadly as Sora ever did, and he could swear there were stars in her eyes. “Please don’t say anything along the lines of ‘oh, you’re so cuuuute,’ or ‘you two are soooo good together’ or anything embarrassing like that,” he grumbled.

            “But Roxas,” Kairi said, still grinning, “you _are_ so cute!”

            “Bitch, I’m adorable,” he deadpanned. Kairi laughed, and he smiled.

            “So basically,” she continued, “you want her to know that you don’t want another pretty face, or just anyone to hold? That you don’t want your love to go to waste, that you want her, and her beautiful soul?”

            Roxas stared at her, confused. “Yes, but… what was that?”

            Kairi chuckled. “Song lyrics. Lame, I know, but…”

            “Song… lyrics?”

            She stopped laughing. “Roxas, don’t fuck with me. You can’t not know what singing is. You were in Sora when he did that musical in Atlantica.”

            “I’m not fucking with you,” he backpedaled. “I just… I didn’t realize that you could just… say song lyrics. I thought it had to be timed right… and underwater… and with the right button presses.”

            “The right button…?” Kairi shook her head. “I’m choosing to ignore that. No, Roxas, singing is something anyone can do.” She thought for a second. “Well, anyone can, but some people do it better than others.”

            “I see.” Roxas frowned, intrigued. “Do you think… this is something I could learn?”

            “Yeah, of course!” Kairi said. “First, let’s see if you can mimic me…”

 

            Sometime later, Roxas’s throat was a bit sore, and Kairi had left and returned to get bottled water.

            “You’re doing great! You’ve got a wonderful voice, Roxas!” she said as he gratefully took a drink.

            “Thanks,” he said, smiling. “I’m having fun.”

            Kairi leaned in, smirking. “Do you know what you want to sing to Xion yet?”

            He immediately blushed. “What makes you think that–?”

            “Well, the look on your face, for one,” Kairi teased. “So?”

            “…That’s private, between me and her.”

            She sat back and huffed. “Killjoy.”

            “Damn straight,” Roxas agreed. “You get it, though, right?”

            “Wanting to share something private with your partner? Yeah, I get it,” Kairi said.

            Something in her voice struck him as odd. “You okay, Kairi? Trouble in paradise?”

            She glared at him. “No.”

            He tilted his head. “‘I don’t believe you; that sounded insincere.’” It was a line from a kids’ song she had just taught him.

            “Don’t quote back at me, young man,” she said, but sighed. “It’s complicated. I don’t want to bother you with it. Not that there is an ‘it’.”

            Roxas shook his head. “Kairi, you listened to me, let me listen to you. What’s up?”

            Kairi looked away from him. “It’s about… Sora. You know that Riku and I decided to go at his pace in regards to… uh…”

            “To sex, yeah,” Roxas interrupted.

            Kairi whipped her head at him. “What…? Who…? Are you and Xion…?”

            He shook his head rapidly. “No, no, we’re not ready for that yet, either. But we did get given the Talk, so, yeah, I know what you’re talking about.”

            Mystified, Kairi asked, “Who gave you two the Talk?”

            “Well, Mom had a long talk with us after the whole notes thing, but that was more about what things should be private. We got a more in-depth talk from the only qualified adult in the Tower a couple weeks ago. But we were talking about you.”

            “Right, we were.” Kairi said, privately wondering who the hell had given them the Talk. Not Lea. He might be Roxas’s best friend, but Roxas was cynical enough that he wouldn’t call him “qualified” at that sort of thing. “So, we decided to go at Sora’s pace, but…” she sighed. “His pace is really slow. And it’s driving me a little crazy.”

            “Hmmm.”

            “Not that there’s anything wrong with that!” she added, hurriedly. “But I’m starting to wonder if maybe he’s just asexual, you know, not interested at all? Which is okay, though I’d feel a little bad doing things with Riku and not him. I just…” she sighed. “I want to do inappropriate things with my boyfriends. Both of them.”

            Roxas studied her, carefully. “Kairi,” he asked eventually. “I don’t have any experience to speak from about being asexual, ‘cause according to Axel that’s not what I am, but I don’t think Sora qualifies. Speaking as someone who used to live in his head.”

            “What do you mean?” Kairi asked.

            “…Have you ever noticed him staring at your ass?”

            “ _Excuse me?_ ” Kairi asked. “Sora doesn’t–”

            “Now hold on,” Roxas interrupted. “You might have misheard me. I didn’t ask, ‘does he ever’. I asked, ‘have you ever noticed’. Have you?”

            Kairi’s mouth was hanging open. “I… no, I have not,” she said, a little affronted. “Roxas, what the fuck?”

            He leaned towards her, suddenly intense. “Kairi, I need you to understand something. For a year, I looked out through Sora’s eyes. I saw everything he saw. I saw everything he looked at. _Everything_.”

            Instinctually, she leaned away from him. “So… you’re saying…”

            Roxas nodded, face still grave. “I have seen your ass. I have seen Riku’s ass. I have seen Selphie’s ass. I have seen Tidus’s ass. I have seen Wakka’s ass. I have seen Tidus’s _dad’s_ ass, not sure what _that_ was all about. Sora has stared at the ass of just about everyone human he’s come across since I got put in his heart. Thankfully, not Axel’s, though I’m pretty sure that was out of consideration for _me_. You do not understand what I have witnessed.  I can say for sure, your boyfriend likes asses. Whether it’s just aesthetic appreciation or sexual, I have no idea, but it is what it is.”

            He hadn’t thought it was possible to embarrass Kairi, comfortable with herself as she was, but for the first time he could recall, her face was bright red. “Sorry if I freaked you out,” he offered.

            “No, it’s… fine,” Kairi managed. “That’s just… a lot to think about. But… if he _is_ interested, then is he just shy? He never seems to instigate anything, except by accident.”

            Roxas leaned back on his hands. “I have a theory about that, Kairi, but you’re not going to like it.”

            She frowned, suspicious. “Go on.”

            “Sora doesn’t like to disappoint people, right?”

            “Right?”

            “So he tends to do what he thinks people are expecting of him, right?”

            “…Sometimes.”

            “Mmm. And you and Riku go to extenuating lengths to ensure that he never hears swearwords. Even though he’s sixteen and lives in a port town, and you, at least, swear like a sailor.”

            “The fuck are you talking about?” Kairi asked, sarcastic.

            “Exactly.” Roxas sat back up. “So, why don’t you let him hear swearwords again?”

            Kairi shook her head. “Because he’s an adorable, innocent little angel, and Riku and I agreed a long time ago that we’d do our best to preserve that innocence for as long… as… possible… oh.” She trailed off, realizing his point. “Fuck me, we’ve been making him feel like he can’t express that sort of interest in front of us, haven’t we.”

            “I don’t know for sure, but that’d be my guess,” Roxas agreed. “Have you guys even talked about what your interests are yet? Things you want to try, that sort of thing?”

            “No, because…” Kairi shut her mouth.

            “Because?”

            “Because… we didn’t want to make Sora uncomfortable,” Kairi admitted, grumbling.

            “Did he say that sort of thing made him uncomfortable, or did you guys just assume it would without asking him?”

            Kairi sighed. “Fuck.”

            “Thought so.”

            To his surprise, she laughed. “Well, I guess if I’m frustrated, I’ve got no one to blame but myself,” she said.

            He shrugged. “Hey, there’s always Riku. I blame him for my problems all the time.”

            Kairi smirked. “Yeah, but the thing is if I blame him for things that aren’t his fault he acts like they are anyway. And he doesn’t deserve that.”

            Roxas put a hand to his chin, making a show of thinking about it. She swatted him.

            “…Still, though, that’s good information. He likes butts, huh,” she mused, a nasty grin covering her face.

            “Hoo boy,” Roxas said, unenthused. “Sorry, Sora.”

            “Hey now, I’ll be nice,” Kairi said.

            Roxas raised an eyebrow. “‘I don’t believe you–’”

            “Oh, fuck off!” Kairi groaned. “I’ve created a monster.”

            Roxas smirked. “But seriously, thank you.” He rose to his feet. “It’s getting late. I’m going to see if Xion’s back at our room yet.”

            Kairi nodded, and stood up as well. “And I think Sora, Riku, and I need to have a talk. Goodnight, Roxas.”

            “Goodnight, Kairi.”

 

 

            She found Sora sitting on one of the couches in the lounge, a book in his hands. “Well, Roxas, time to check if you’re right,” she muttered, then added, louder, “Hey Sora! Mind if I sit down?”

            He look up at her, and smiled. “Sure, Kairi! Where have you been all day?”

            “Teaching Roxas to sing,” she said. “He’s quite good at it, actually.” And she sat down.

            Not onto the couch, but onto Sora’s lap.

            His face was immediately red. She shifted her hips back and forth a bit, and he got redder. “Problem?” she asked, teasing but prepared to get up immediately if he said there was.

            Sora continued blushing, but shook his head. “Nope,” he declared.

            Kairi smiled, gently. “Okay. I should do this more often, your lap is comfortable.” Riku chose that moment to enter the room. “Oh, there you two are. Nice chair, Kairi.”

            “Thanks!”

            “Hey!”

            Riku smirked. Kairi suddenly had an idea, and kicked her shoe off and under the other couch. “Whoops. Riku, could you get that for me?” At his confused look, she winked, out of Sora’s line of sight.

            “Uh, sure?” he said, and bent over to retrieve the shoe.

            Kairi watched Sora’s face carefully, and sure enough, his eyes went exactly where Roxas said they would. Well, she didn’t blame him. Riku did have a nice ass.

            She shifted her hips again, and Sora glared at her. She smiled, innocently.

            Her smile faded as Riku got back up. If Roxas was right about the first thing, he was probably right about the second thing, too. Which meant they needed to have a serious talk.

            She stood up and accepted her shoe back. “So, um, teasing Sora aside, Roxas brought something to my attention just now, and I think we need to talk about it. All three of us.”

            “Sure?” Sora asked, confused.

            “What’s up, Kairi?” Riku asked. He and Kairi both sat down on the couch, next to Sora instead of on him this time.

            Kairi breathed out, slowly, wondering how to phrase this. “Sora… Do Riku and I make you feel… like you can’t show you’re physically attracted to us?”

            “Huh?” Riku asked, but Sora had gone still.

            “Not _exactly_ ,” he said, quietly. “It’s just… whenever we get to talking about, or doing that sort of thing, I get embarrassed. _But_ ,” he added, cutting them off before they could say anything, “it’s a… _good_ embarrassed, you know? Like there’s something about it that makes it seem like we’re getting away with something we shouldn’t be. And I _like_ that.”

            Kairi blinked. “Sora, if we’ve been making you uncomfortable, you’re allowed to–”

            “That’s it.”

            “What’s ‘it’?” Riku asked.

            Sora frowned. “Look, you’re right, I don’t exactly feel comfortable being the one starting things yet. But, if one of you two do, I’m fine playing along.” He took a deep breath. “ _But_ , every time something happens, there’s a time-out. And one or both of you has to remind me that ‘I can say stop’. I _know_ I can say stop. But guys. You never actually ask me if I _want_ to stop. You just… derail it with the “you know you can say no” question.” He sighed. “Maybe that’s my fault for not seeming, I dunno, enthusiastic? But have I ever actually said ‘no’?”

            It was a fair point. Neither Kairi nor Riku could recall a time that Sora had actually asked them to stop what they were doing. Roxas had, occasionally, back when he was still in Sora, but their boyfriend, embarrassed though they’d made him several times, had never actually asked them to stop. They’d always stopped… to remind him he could tell them to stop.

            Apparently Kairi wasn’t the only one feeling a bit frustrated.

            “Well, looks like we have some apologizing to do. We’re sorry, Sora,” Riku said. Kairi nodded in agreement.

            He smiled. “It’s okay, guys. But, I think we need to spend more time talking about this sort of thing.”

            “Definitely,” said Kairi. She looked down. “Honestly… we thought discussing stuff like that would embarrass you, too.”

            Sora shrugged. “Yeah, but like I said, it’s a good embarrassed. A-and I mean… it’s still something I need to get comfortable with if I want to… do more, with you two. And I _do_.” His cheeks were bright red, but his tone was steady.

            Riku smiled. “In that case, why don’t we head back up to our room? And have a conversation.”

            Kairi beamed and Sora flushed, but both were excited. “Sounds like a good idea!” Kairi said.

            They stood up, and left the common room, but didn’t get to sleep for several more hours.

 

 

            Roxas carefully opened the door of his and Xion’s room, not wanting to wake her if she was asleep. He and Kairi had really lost track of time up on the balcony, but he hoped it would be worth it.

            Xion wasn’t asleep. She was lying on their bed(s), staring at the ceiling with a pensive look on her face.

            “Xion?” he asked, and she looked over at him as he entered the room. “Everything all right?”

            “Not really,” she replied, and stretched out her arms towards him. He joined her on the bed, and she sat up so he could hug her. “Riku had me spar with him today. Wooden swords. He’s looking to do it with you, too.”

            “I wouldn’t mind hitting him with a stick,” Roxas deadpanned, and Xion smiled slightly, which he counted as a victory. “What happened?”

            Xion pressed her lips together. “…the same thing that happened to you when you fought him,” she said, eventually, and explained what that meant.

            Roxas hugged her tighter. “He’s right, you know. Even if you picked up some things from Sora, it doesn’t mean anything going forwards. You’re _Xion_ , no one else.”

            She smiled, sadly. “Well, I’m glad you think so.”

            Roxas shook his head. “I _know_ so.”

            Her smile was a little less sad, now. “So what were you doing all day?”

            To her surprise, Roxas turned a little red. “Kairi was teaching me… how to… sing.”

            “Sing?”

            Roxas nodded. “Yeah.”

            Xion frowned. “Why?”

            Roxas suddenly had the sensation of a twisting in his stomach. Kairi had warned him about this, calling it “performance anxiety”, although the way she had leered while doing it made it seem like maybe the phrase had a double meaning. He swallowed, and turned so he was sitting in front of Xion. He took her hands, and looked into her eyes.

            “So that I can do this.”

           

_There is something that I see_

_In the way you look at me_

_There’s a smile, there’s a truth_

_In your eyes_

            Xion didn’t freeze, exactly, but she stilled. Slowly, her eyes widened.

 

_But in an unexpected way_

_On this unexpected day_

_Could it mean this is where I belong?_

_It is you I have loved all along!_

 

            As Roxas sang, the restlessness in his stomach faded. It was as if his body understood that, well, he’d started this, and he was going to finish it.

           

_It’s no more a mystery_

_It is finally clear to me_

_You’re the home my heart searched for so long_

_And it is you I have loved all along!_

 

            The look on Xion’s face definitely made it worth it.

 

_There were times I ran to hide_

_Afraid to show the other side_

_Alone in the night without you_

 

            Gently, slowly, he reached up his hand and placed it on her cheek. She leaned into it.

 

_But I know just who you are_

_And I know you hold my heart_

_Finally, this is where I belong!_

_And it is you I have loved all along!_

            He stroked her cheek. She closed her eyes under his touch.

_It’s no more a mystery, it is finally clear to me_

_You’re the home my heart searched for so long_

_It is you I have loved all along!_

 

            A small smile, that grew bigger, formed on Roxas’s face. Xion’s expression was a big part of it.

 

_Over and over, I’m filled with emotion_

_Your love rushes through my veins_

_And I am filled with the sweetest devotion_

_As I look into your perfect face_

            He’d been hoping that line would make her blush. It did.

 

_It’s no more a mystery, it is finally clear to me_

_You’re the home my heart searched for so long_

_It is you I have loved_

_It is you I have loved_

_It is you I have loved, all along!_

            As the last lines left him, tears started leaking out of Xion’s eyes. “Xion? Are you okay? You’re crying!” he asked, concerned.

            She shook her head, smiling. “No, no. Happy tears. Roxas, I… I don’t know what to say.”

            Roxas smiled. “I do. I love you, Xion.”

            She blushed, then beamed. “I love you too, Roxas. Hold me?”

            “Of course.” They snuggled in close together.

            “Kairi taught you that song?” Xion asked after they’d settled in.

            “Yep. She said it was from some old movie Sora used to love when he was a kid. They and Riku watched it so many times, they all knew the soundtrack by heart.” Roxas felt a sharp intake of breath from Xion, and she started grinning. “You okay?” he asked.

            “Yes. Yes, I am.” She propped herself up on one arm and whispered, ecstatic, “ _I’ve never heard it before! I don’t remember it!_ ”

            Roxas beamed in return. “See? No one else.”

            Xion laughed. “I like being me.”

            Roxas laughed, too. “I like you being you, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Normally I would leave a link to a youtube video of the song I quoted, but this time I abjectly refuse. If you recognize it, you know what movie it's from. If you google the lyrics (they're all there), you will immediately find out what movie it's from. I refuse to say it, because I believe it'll ruin the magic if I admit to it.  
> It was originally supposed to be a Jesse McCartney song, hence why both Kairi and the title quote Beautiful Soul. Unfortunately, I suddenly remembered that Beautiful Soul is the only Jesse McCartney song that I know, and also that I hate it. So, this song was one of the first things that came to mind when I thought about romantic songs I know. (I had the soundtrack CD as a kid. Shush.)  
> The song that Roxas quotes back at Kairi is "Happy That You're Here" by children's band Trout Fishing in America. Also a childhood favourite.  
> I like to think that the reason Riku swaps to his normal voice once he's outed in KHII is because his vocal cords actually _weren't_ affected by becoming hAnsem, and he's just a really good impressionist. Especially because that would mean he can still do the deep voice if he has to. Or, mimic his boyfriend.  
>  You might be able to tell, I'm a huge fan of Riku - Xion interaction, and also of Roxas - Kairi interaction. Both are fun to put together.  
> As for Sora's conundrum... As funny as the "Sora isn't allowed to hear swearwords" joke is (and the DISNEY field still exists), I did feel a little realism was necessary here. Much as they love him, it's not very considerate of Kairi and Riku to make assumptions about what Sora is and isn't comfortable with without actually asking him straight up. And no, none of them are ready for sex yet, though again that's not something I'm going to write in this series. They literally just talked about things, and fell asleep cuddling.  
> Roxas and Xion, of course, have already been having those sort of conversations, as we know from Ground Rules. (See, it's all connected!)
> 
> EDIT: Whoops, I forgot. Don't bother asking who gave Roxas and Xion the Talk, because it'll be addressed in the very next chapter.


	8. The First Time It Happened

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxas and Xion enlist Kairi, Sora, Riku, and Naminé's help in passing a relationship milestone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to thank everyone who looked up the song I used in the last chapter and decided not to spoil what movie it's from in the comment section, without being asked to. You people are the real heroes here.

            The first time it didn’t happen, it was after twilight.

            The Mysterious Tower was far enough removed from Twilight Town that its sky didn’t display eternal sunset. This afforded Roxas, Xion, and Lea the novel privilege of stargazing.

            It didn’t happen under the stars. Roxas was sitting on one of the Tower’s many balconies, one arm wrapped around Xion, while Lea had gone off to get something.

            “They’re beautiful. And each one is a different world?” he asked her.

            “That’s what Aqua says,” Xion replied. “Makes you feel kind of tiny, doesn’t it?”

            “Kinda,” Roxas said. “But I don’t think that matters so much. I’m right where I need to be.” He looked down at her and smiled.

            She looked back up at him and laughed. “Kinda cheesy, Roxas.”

            He stuck out his tongue. “Doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

            They were both suddenly aware of how close their heads were to one another. Their eyes locked, each of them searching for and receiving permission in the other’s eyes. They leaned closer–

            And Lea opened the door behind them. “So these are called “popsicles”, they’re like ice cream but more frozen, and no, sorry Rox, they don’t come in sea-salt flavour. Something about the freezing temperature of salt, it...” he broke off. “Did I interrupt something?”

            “No, nothing,” Roxas said, ignoring his own burning ears, letting Xion bury her face in his chest to hide her own blush. “We were just... waiting for you.”

            “Alright,” Lea said, handing out the treats. “Man, beautiful sky, huh?”

 

 

            The second time it didn’t happen, it was on the training field.

            Despite their shared history, no one knew how they fought better than each other did. So, they were trying to ease themselves in to sparring together.

            Mostly this meant poking each other with the wooden practice swords, since neither could summon their Keyblades yet.

            This very quickly turned flirtatious.

            And then into something else as Roxas misstepped and fell forwards, pinning Xion underneath him.

            They wound up staring into each other’s eyes, heads almost touching, lips tantalizingly close-

            And then a fireball flew past their heads. Roxas instinctively rolled off of Xion, and they both looked over to see Kairi berating Lea to watch his aim.

            “...he can’t be doing this on purpose?” Xion wondered aloud.

            “I don’t want to think he is. He’s our friend,” Roxas replied. “We can’t assume it’s on purpose.”

 

 

            The fifteenth time it didn’t happen, even Roxas had to agree that he might be doing it on purpose. It was thus that they found themselves sneaking into Sora, Riku, and Kairi’s room, with a confused Naminé in tow, to beg for help.

            “So, why are you here?” Riku asked, equally confused.

            “It’s about...” Roxas began, but flushed and looked away.

            “You see, we haven’t...” Xion started, but then also found she couldn’t look at any of them.

            “You haven’t..?” Sora prompted, giving them an encouraging smile.

            “We... we like each other, but we haven’t...” Xion tried, but she just couldn’t spit it out.

            Fortunately, she didn’t have to. “You two haven’t kissed yet, have you?” Naminé said, the pieces falling into place. “If it’s advice you’re looking for, though, I don’t know why you brought me in. I haven’t kissed anyone either.” Her tone was teasing but that did nothing to make Roxas and Xion blush less.

            “It’s not that. We know... how,” Roxas muttered. “The problem is... doing it.”

            “If you’re not both comfortable with it,” Kairi began in a sharp tone, but they both shook their heads. “No, we both want it to happen, that’s not the problem,” Xion said.

            “The problem is Axel,” Roxas finally admitted.

            Kairi frowned. “What’s Lea got to do with it? Are you worried your friendships with him are going to change if you take this step together?”

            “No,” Xion said, “Not at all. The problem is that every time we go to... k-kiss, he’s right there. Every. Time.”

            Kairi, Riku, Sora, and Naminé exchanged looks. “I’m sure it’s not that bad–” Sora started to say, but Roxas glared at him and turned to Xion. Gently, he slid a hand up the side of her cheek so that his fingertips were just under her ear. She leaned forwards in anticipation, eyes closed, as he took a step towards her–

            And there was a knock at the door. They pulled apart, equally embarrassed and infuriated, as Lea poked his head in. “Everything okay?” he asked. “I heard voices.”

            “We’re fine,” Kairi said. “Just talking about relationship stuff.”

            Lea missed the looks of terror at her frankness on Roxas’s and Xion’s faces entirely. “Ah, icky stuff. Gotcha. Need a rescue, Naminé?”

            The blonde girl smiled. “No, I’m good, Lea. This is fascinating.”

            “All right, suit yourself,” he said, shrugging. He pulled his head back through the doorway and softly closed it behind him. They could hear the sound of his footsteps down the hall; he hadn’t made a single noise on his approach.

            Roxas and Xion fixed Sora with identical glares.

            “...Okay, maybe it is that bad,” he conceded.

            “So we were hoping that you guys could, maybe, um...” Xion trailed off.

            “...Occupy him?” Roxas finished for her.

            “Occupy him how?” Kairi asked.

            “I don’t know, just... prevent him from being where we are when we try to... kiss.” Roxas nearly whispered the last word.

            Riku shook his head. “Has it occurred to either of you that even if he does interrupt like he just did, you can still go through with it anyway?”

            They were also shaking their heads. “We want it to be... special. Just the two of us. Not have Lea making faces in the background. You get that, right?” Xion asked.

            Sora, Riku, and Kairi glanced at each other, recalling the circumstances of their first kiss(es). “Yeah, we get it,” Sora said.

            “Hmmm.... If it’s keeping him occupied you need, I might have just the thing,” Naminé said, with a devious smile.

 

 

            “You want me to what?” Lea asked, confused.

            “Model for me!” Naminé said, with an excited smile. “I want to try painting instead of sketching, and I need someone to paint.”

            Lea raised an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t you usually start with, like, a bowl of fruit or something?”

            Naminé shrugged. “I’ve always been better at drawing people. And Aqua and Ventus are studying, and Kairi, Xion, and the boys are going to Twilight Town. You’re all I’ve got.” She pouted, batting her eyelashes at him. “Please?”

            Lea sighed. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were away on some mission or other, and he wouldn’t have asked Yen Sid, either. “Fine.”

            “Great!” Naminé beamed. “Riku said he found a studio space on one of his midnight wanderings, and I’m pretty sure I know where it is, but I’ll need help carrying the easel.”

            “Oh, is that why you need another person?” Lea accused.

            She laughed. “Of course not. But, if it makes you feel better, I can get a bowl for you to stand in.”

            “Wow, rude,” Lea said, but smiled. There was still something about this that felt... off, but how bad could it be?

 

 

            It wasn’t every day that Hayner made his way over to Sunset Terrace, but he had decided on a longer walk today. He turned out of the apartment complexes and headed up towards the hill. From where he was standing, it was possible to see the top, and he could make out two familiar heads, one blond, one black-haired.

            Roxas and Xion usually came to say hi when they were in town. What gives?

            He was about to call out to them when a pair of strong arms erupted out of the bush beside him, and dragged him in. He struggled, but the arms were insistent, holding him still and also holding his mouth closed.

            To his further surprise, Kairi and Sora popped up next to him, fingers to their lips, urging him to be quiet. Out of confusion, he stopped struggling, and the arms let him go.

            “Sora? Kairi? What the hell?” he asked.

            “Long story,” Sora said. “Oh, this is our boyfriend Riku, by the way. Riku, this is Hayner.”

            Hayner turned to see one of the few men he’d ever consider describing as beautiful. “Nice to, uh, meet you,” he stammered, not quite sure why he was finding it hard to form words.

            “Sorry about the rough handling,” Riku said, smiling. “We have to make sure nothing interferes.”

            “Interferes with what?” asked Hayner. He turned to the person mostly likely to give him a coherent answer. “Kairi, what’s going on?”

            “Well, Roxas and Xion have been having a bit of trouble... let’s say, passing a relationship milestone. So, they asked us to help and make sure they don’t get interrupted for... what, the seventeenth time now?” she asked Riku, who nodded.

            “Sixteenth if you don’t count the time they were expecting to be interrupted,” he confirmed.

            “Relationship... is this a kissing thing?” Hayner asked.

            “Yep!” Sora said, grinning.

            “Oh. Great,” Hayner said, feeling awkward. “Guess it’s good you grabbed me. Who’s been interrupting them? Is it that tall guy with the red hair they used to hang around way back when?”

            “His name is Lea,” Kairi confirmed. “He’s their friend.”

            “He’s also kind of their dad,” Riku added.

            “...I’m not gonna ask.”

            “You know how they came into being at fourteen years old, without any memories?” Kairi asked.

            “Yeah?” Hayner said, cautiously.

            “Lea was basically the person who taught them both about... well, lots of stuff. Life lessons, that sort of thing,” she explained.

            “I... see?” Hayner said. “And he kept walking in on them?”

            “Yep!” said Sora. “So we’re trying to give them a little privacy. Naminé is keeping Lea occupied, and we’re making sure no one interrupts!”

            Hayner considered this. “...Do they know you can see the top of the hill from this bush?” he asked, suspicious.

            Sora and Riku had the decency to look surprised, but Kairi threw back her head and cackled. “Nope! And what they don’t know won’t hurt them!”

            “That... seems kind of uncool,” Hayner said.

            Kairi shrugged. “Maybe. But I just want my baby sister’s first kiss to go well.” She pulled a sealed container out of... somewhere, Hayner couldn’t see if it was a bag or a backpack, or if her pockets were just huge. “Popcorn?”

 

 

            Lea jerked up in his chair.

            Something was wrong.

            He couldn’t tell what it was, but something was wrong.

            “Naminé, I think something’s up with Roxas and Xion,” he said. “I should probably hop over to Twilight Town and check up on–”

            “I’m sure they’re fine, Lea,” Naminé said, focused intently on the canvas she’d set up. Lea was draped over a chair across the room from her, comfortable, if feeling a bit foolish.  “Please don’t move.”

            Lea bit his lip. “Naminé, I’m not kidding, I really feel like something’s wrong.”

            Naminé looked up. “Sora, Kairi, and Riku are there with them. They’ll be fine.”

            Lea sighed, and shifted in his chair. Maybe, if he was annoying enough, she’d kick him out. It had worked several times back in the Organization. He opened his mouth.

            “Lea,” Naminé said warmly, in her gentlest tone, “If you don’t sit still for this, I’ll take you to Atlantica and _gut you like a fish_.”

            Lea froze, knowing she was deadly serious. “You’ve never even been to Atlantica,” he protested, half-heartedly, but he knew a losing battle when he saw one.

            Well. It was probably nothing.

 

 

            “This wasn’t exactly what I imagined,” Roxas admitted. “It feels kind of... staged.”

            Xion, standing next to him on the hill and holding his hand, shrugged. “We’ve got plenty of time for spontaneity.”

            Roxas frowned. “Yeah, but... I kind of wanted our first kiss to be special.”

            Xion smiled at him. “It will be. Because I’m having it with you.”

            Roxas chuckled. “You don’t get to give me shit for being cheesy anymore.”

            Xion beamed. “In exchange for seeing you smile? Absolutely worth it.” She took a step closer to him.

            Roxas turned towards her. He leaned forwards, she tilted her head up. They both closed their eyes.

            Gently, their lips met in the space between them.

            Since the invention of the kiss, there have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one wouldn’t have turned any heads. It was slightly awkward, neither having done this before, and it was small.

            But that didn’t matter to either of them. Because the first time it happened, she was with him, and he was with her, and that wasn’t just enough, it was everything.

 

 

            “Awwwwww,” Kairi and Sora both cooed. Hayner rolled his eyes. The thought that maybe he’d be up on that hill with Lenna someday swirled around the back of his head, but he pushed it aside.

            “Theirs is lasting longer than ours did,” Riku noted.

            “True, but I wanted ours to be quick so no one felt left out,” Kairi agreed.

            “And, it was only the first ones that were short,” Sora said, sagely.

            Hayner looked at him. Sora seemed to suddenly register what he’d said, and began turning red.

            A gloved hand reached over and dug into the popcorn tub. “Great snacks, but the venue leaves a little something to be desired.”

            Sora, Kairi, Hayner, and Riku whirled around to see that someone had joined them in the bush.

            “Hey. So is this a private voyeur show, or can anyone join in?” Lea said, grinning.

            “You! But! You’re! How did?! Naminé!” Kairi sputtered.

            Lea shrugged. “Yeah, turns out she’s a really really quick painter. Seemed to bum her out, actually. I think she wanted a long-term project.” Lea took another handful of popcorn.  “And all the while I’m getting this weird feeling that something’s wrong with my best friends. I pop over and what do I find? Said friends being spied upon while on what looks like a real romantic date. I’m sorry,” he added, spotting Hayner. “Didn’t introduce myself. I’m Lea. Got it memorized?”

            “Hayner. Nice to... meet you?” Hayner tried.

            “Charmed. You look like you got roped in, so not mad at you. _You_ three, on the other hand...”

            “Uh... we can explain?” Sora said.

            “Oh, go on, I’m sure this’ll be good, eh, Hayner?” Lea said, nudging Hayner with his elbow. Hayner, for his part, looked from one to the other and wisely decided to say nothing.

            “They asked for our help to set this up,” Kairi explained.

            Lea raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

            “Because,” Kairi said, “a certain someone kept interrupting them whenever they tried to kiss.”

            “Who, me?” Lea said. “So what? They can kiss plenty on their own ti–”

            “They don’t. That right there,” Kairi said, pointing at the hill, “is their first kiss. Period.”

            Confusion crossed Lea’s face. “You’re kidding.”

            “Nope, it’s true.” Sora said. “First kiss.”

            “They sleep in the same bed!”

            Kairi shrugged. “People go at their own pace.”

            Lea was considering this new information. “Huh. Well. Now I feel like a bit of a jerk.”

            Kairi nodded, sagely. “That’s okay, Lea, you are a bit of a jerk.”

            Lea stuck his tongue out at her. “No need to be rude, Princess.”

            “Just calling it like I see it, kidnapper,” Kairi shot back, also sticking her tongue out.

            “Whatever.” Lea sighed. “I’m gonna head back home. Can you send them to see me when you guys get back? I have some apologizing to do.”

            “Sure,” said Sora. With a nod, Lea opened a Light Corridor and stepped through. Hayner’s eyes expanded to twice their usual size.

            “Keyblade stuff?” he asked.

            Kairi nodded. “Keyblade stuff.”

            Riku, meanwhile, was still staring at the hill. “Not that that’s not impressive, but guys, you have to come up for air at some point,” he murmured.

 

 

            They rode the train back to the Mysterious Tower, after saying goodbye to Hayner. Sora, Riku, and Kairi all stood near the front, sharing the last of the popcorn, giving Roxas and Xion privacy to cuddle in the back.

            Lea was waiting for them when they arrived at the Tower. With a nod to Kairi and the boys, who stepped away into the Tower, he approached Roxas and Xion.

            “So, uh,” he started, awkwardly. “I think I have some apologizing to do.”

            Roxas tensed, but Xion patted his shoulder and asked, “Apologizing? For what?”

            Lea blew his bangs out of his eyes, ignoring the fact that the way his hair fell, there was nothing there to begin with. “For interrupting you two, all those times. I didn’t know you hadn’t... kissed, before.”

            “Wait, it _was_ on purpose?” Roxas demanded. “The popsicles and the “rescuing” and the time with the noodles?”

            “Wait, the what?” Lea asked, suddenly confused. “How many times have I walked in on you two?”

            “Sixteen,” Xion said, a hint of irritation colouring her voice.

            “Whoa. Fuck, guys, I’m sorry. Usually it wasn’t intentional.”

            “The fireball?” Roxas asked, also slightly irritated.

            Lea raised his hands, sheepish. “Yeah, that one was on purpose. Sorry. But, all those other times, why didn’t you go through with it anyway?”

            Roxas and Xion shared a look, an unspoken resolution passing between them. “Because... you get kind of weird around us when we get affectionate,” Roxas finally said.

            “I what?”

            “You get... I don’t know, closed off or weirded out or something,” said Xion. “To the point where we feel uncomfortable doing things like that.” The explanation they had given earlier to the other four teens, while also true, hadn’t been the full story. This was.

            Lea thought back to the other times Roxas and Xion had done something teeth-rottingly couple-y, and realized exactly what they meant. Every time it happened, his thoughts went directly to...

            Damn it.

            “I think I know what you mean,” he said, somewhat stiffly. “Sorry, I’ll try to stop doing it.”

            “Why were you doing it in the first place?” Xion asked.

            Lea waved his hand. “Doesn’t matter. It’s my shit, I’ll deal with it. Well, congratulations, but I should probably go–”

            “Sit down,” Roxas interrupted.

            Lea raised an eyebrow. “I was going to say check with the old man and see if he wants me for anything–”

            “You, seeking out work?” Xion asked, sharing a glance with Roxas. “This is worse than we thought. Sit down.”

            Each of them seized one of his arms and marched him over to sit on a bench.

            “Now, tell us,” Roxas ordered. “What’s this all about, Axel?”

            Lea shook his head. “Like I said, it’s my personal shit, and you don’t need to worry about it.”

            Roxas frowned. “And what, exactly, happened to ‘I’d rather know and worry than not know’? I’m pretty sure that advice wasn’t just for romantic relationships.”

            “Lea, it might be your personal shit, but we’re your friends,” Xion said. “If we’re doing something that’s bothering you, you’re allowed to tell us. Or, even if it’s not something we’re doing, we still want to help you with it. Tell us.”

            Lea couldn’t bring himself to look at either of them, so instead he stared at his boots. “It’s complicated.”

            Roxas rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to bother listing the things in our lives that are complicated. That’s not an excuse.” He placed a hand on Lea’s shoulder. “Whatever this is, you don’t have to face it alone. You need to be more open, at least with the two of us if no one else. If you need help, it’s here, but you need to ask for it.”

            Lea sighed. “I don’t need help, exactly. It’s not that kind of a problem. I’m… did I ever tell you what envy is?”

            “Wanting something someone else has?” Xion asked.

            “Yeah. I’m envious of what you two have. That’s why I’ve been weird.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry for making things awkward for you. Like I said, it’s my problem to deal with, not you guys’.”

            “I didn’t realize you were feeling lonely, Axel,” Roxas said. “I’m sorry.”

            Lea waved his hand. “I was specifically trying not to advertise it. Not your fault for not noticing.”

            Xion nodded. “It’s not your fault when it’s the other person trying to keep it secret, Roxas,” she said, somewhat quietly. Roxas reached across Lea’s lap to pat her shoulder. She smiled at him.

            “So, what can we do about it? Do you want us to try and set you up on a blind date with a cute guy in Twilight Town?” she teased, turning back to Lea.

            Lea shook his head. “Don’t really have the time for that right now, thanks.”

            There was something in his tone that was suspicious. “Did you… already have someone in mind?” Roxas asked, raising his eyebrow.

            Lea actually cringed. “N…no..?” he tried, but they both fixed him with identical glares. “Sort of. But I _really_ don’t want to talk about it with you two.”

            “Why not with us specifically?” Roxas asked, but Xion’s eyes were widening.

            “…It’s Saïx, isn’t it,” she nearly whispered. Roxas stiffened and Lea froze.

            “I… No,” Lea said. “Not Saïx. Isa. The person he was before Xehanort. Before… the Fall.”

            “Right, I’m sorry,” Xion said. “They would be different people, wouldn’t they?”

            “Yeah. I miss my friend, whom I’m realizing I probably had a crush on without understanding it back when we were your age.” Lea sighed. “I’m envious, because if things hadn’t gone the way they did, I might have what you two do.”

            “With _him_?” Roxas asked. There was a scornful note in his tone.

            Lea turned to him. He wasn’t angry, he knew where this was coming from, and it was part of the reason why he hadn’t wanted to talk about this with them in particular.

            Roxas didn’t like Saïx. At all. It wasn’t due to Saïx’s role as the taskmaster back in the Organization, though that probably played a part.

            No, it was likely because of Saïx’s resolute referral to Xion as an “it”. Lea had his doubts that Roxas would ever let that go, even if Xion did. In some ways, it made his hopes of what could happen after rescuing Isa from Xehanort… awkward.

            “With the person who sacrificed their free will to save me from a hotheaded, rash action that could have gotten _me_ possessed instead,” he admonished, lightly. “Rox, I know you hate Saïx. I’m not begrudging you that. But you’ve never met Isa, got it memorized? Not the real him.”

            “I guess,” Roxas said, sounding completely unconvinced. His face softened. “I’m sorry we’ve been making you uncomfortable. But, we’re not going to stop.”

            “I don’t expect you to,” Lea said, waving his hand in dismissal. “But I will try to stop making faces.”

            “And interrupting us?”

            Lea wrapped his arms around their shoulders. “Roxas, Xion, I’m the closest thing you two have to a big brother. I can promise you, I _absolutely_ will _never_ stop interrupting you if I think it’s funny. I will try to stop doing it accidentally, though,” he added when they both glared at him.

            “Uh-huh,” Roxas grumbled.

            Xion had a strangely serene look on her face. “That’s okay, Lea. But if you walk in on something you don’t want to see, that makes it your own damn fault.”

            “Something I don’t want to see? What are you talking abouuuuuuuuu…” Lea trailed off, his eyes suddenly focusing on a point in the very far distance. Roxas had also worked out what she meant, and turned away, reddening. Xion, to her credit, still had the same serene expression, even if her cheeks were tinged slightly pink.

            “Is that… likely?” Lea managed to choke out when he’d gotten control of his mouth again.

            “It’s not unlikely,” Xion said, firmly, though she didn’t look at him. “We aren’t going to rush into things, but we don’t intend to not do anything. Right Roxas?”

            Roxas coughed. “R-right.”

            Lea grimaced. “Guess I have to give you two the Talk after all, huh?”

            Both Roxas and Xion blanched. “No, we’ve uh... had it, already,” Xion admitted, unable to make eye contact.

            “Wait, you have?” Lea asked, concerned, confused, and secretly a little bit relieved. “Who gave it to you?”

            Roxas and Xion caught each other’s eye, and Roxas shrugged. “The only qualified adult in the Tower.”

 

 

            The only qualified adult in the Tower lunged away from the dinner he was preparing, grabbing a tissue just in time to catch a massive sneeze.

            “Gawrsh,” said Goofy, washing his hands again and checking to make sure he was well away from the food, “maybe I shouldn’t be cookin’ if I’ve got a case of the sniffles comin’ on.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was another chapter that was mostly written on my phone, although unlike When They Come Back, not in its entirety. Roxas and Xion are, ultimately, my favourite relationship in this franchise, so of course I had to dedicate a chapter to their first kiss.  
> The whole thing of Lea constantly interrupting them, even unknowingly, is based on the unwritten code of being an older sibling. Messing with your little sibling whenever it's not important, but supporting them when it is. I'm the eldest in my family, so it's familiar ground.  
> You'll excuse the Princess Bride quotation, but I felt like the contrast to the big kiss in that movie/book was necessary. First kisses often suck; that's not a problem with either participant, it's just awkwardness that'll go away with time. Usually, in the moment, it won't matter to you at all.  
> "The time with the noodles" was just supposed to be an on-the-nose reference to the concept of a "Noodle Incident", but upon rereading to edit I realized that it can be read as Roxas and Xion tried to do the Lady and the Tramp thing with spaghetti, and Lea interrupted somehow. Either interpretation is good, in my book.  
> You're welcome for the mental image of Goofy giving Roxas and Xion the Talk. Consider yourself lucky I rejected the fic idea that I originally had, where Roxas and Xion are actually ready for sex, but realize they have no idea how to go about it safely. It would have had an actual Talk given by Goofy, and also would have continued on to tell about their first time. In Explicit-rated detail. I'm never actually going to write that, because I realized that if I wanted to make you all read Goofy giving the Talk, I would have to _write_ Goofy giving the Talk. And that's not happening. That's too hyuck-ed up, even for me.  
>  He's the only qualified adult in the Tower because he's the only person there with an adult child. I've never seen Goof Troop, and the most I've seen of Max is either in the preview for the second Goofy movie (the one where Goofy follows him to college), and occasionally as a valet in House of Mouse. So, in this AU, he's an adult, although he's probably never going to show up. I'm not planning on spending a lot of time in Disney Town.  
> In other news, I finished Nier:Automata last Sunday, mostly. I'm just missing ending [Y]. So I've been crying over androids for the past week but! It's all good! It is a fantastic game, I say as a lover of quick-paced combat, a philosophy major, and a person who likes attractive robots. Definitely worth a look into, if you've been pondering picking it up. Does this mean I'm going back to FFVII? Uh... the copy of Nier:Gestalt sitting on my table says no, not yet. Maybe. Eventually.  
> One last thing. More Affection Than You Know was published on November 25th, 2017. This update, on the 23rd of November, 2018, is the closest I'm going to get to Kingdom Hearts Ψ's first anniversary. It's been amazing, and I'm truly grateful for each and every one of you. Especially you, reading this. Yes, you. You're wonderful.  
> (That's right. It took me a year to get Roxas and Xion to smooch. I'd like to think it was worth the wait.)


	9. Lazy Afternoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Keybearers spend an afternoon together, talking about anything at all.

            “Okay, Nam? How long do we have to hold this pose?”

            Naminé looked up from her sketchpad. Across from her in the common room, Kairi, Sora, and Riku were sitting on a couch. Kairi and Sora’s arms were both splayed out, like they were presenting Riku, who was sitting between them. She was sitting on the floor between another couch and a small coffee table, sketching them.

            “I told you it would be a while. You two’re the ones who picked that pose,” she replied, grinning. It had been about half an hour, and Kairi and Sora’s arms were starting to shake. She’d had a rough time convincing them that she didn’t need them to hold a smile for the sketch as it was, so she hadn’t bothered to discourage them.

            “Yeah… Regretting it somewhat,” Kairi said.

            “Hey, look at it like this, Kai!” Sora said. “It’s good arm training!”

            “If they don’t fall off,” she grumbled.

            Naminé laughed, then winced. “Ow!” she complained, turning her head slightly to look at the person on the couch behind her.

            “Hey, you want me to braid your hair properly, you gotta sit still,” Lea admonished. “Otherwise it pulls. Like that.”

            “Hmph,” Naminé said, but grinned, turning back around. “And why my hair exactly?”

            “Cause mine’s too wild to do anything with, Xion’s is too short, and Kairi had that haircut,” he explained. Kairi had gotten her long hair trimmed into a bob, deposing Xion as the girl with the shortest hair. “And I’m too scared to ask Aqua,” he added, grinning.

            “You should be,” Aqua teased. She was sitting in a chair a little ways away to the left of Kairi et al’s couch, nose stuck in a book. She’d decided to stop locking herself in the study recently, especially after she and Ven had started training with the others. Naminé and Kairi were both pleased to see that she was opening up.

            Ven, sitting in another chair next to her, grinned. “I dunno, Aqua, maybe you’d look nice with a braid?”

            She glared at him. “No.”

            He pouted, then brightened. “Maybe I would?”

            “Sure,” Lea said, and smiled a nasty smile. “I could do you and Roxas up as twins–”

            “No,” said both Ven and Roxas, who was sitting in another chair on the other end of the couch, reading a book with Xion in his lap.

            “Aw, come on, Roxas, it’d be cute!” Kairi teased.

            “No,” said Roxas.

            “You’d both be adorable,” Aqua urged, a small smile on her face.

            “No,” said Ventus.

            “Are you sure?” Xion needled, pouting at her boyfriend. “I’m sure Lea would do a good job.”

            “…No,” said Roxas, but the hesitation was there.

            Lea smirked. “Well, the offer’s always open.”

            They both glared at him, and a laugh was shared all around. There was silence for a bit, until Lea noticed something.

            “Hey, so, was this seating intentional? People with two-syllable names on one side, people with one or three on the other?”

            This was met with a bit of confusion, until they noticed he was correct. “Huh,” Kairi said. “That is weird.”

            “Also weird that so many of us have two-syllable names,” Naminé mused. “Or, so many of you do.”

            Riku shrugged. “It’s normal on the Destiny Islands. Even the names that aren’t from this language do it. Like mine and Sora’s.”

            “Do your names mean something?” Aqua asked, fascinated.

            Riku nodded. “‘Sora’ means ‘sky’ and ‘riku’ means ‘land’; as in, shoreline.”

            “What about ‘kairi’?” Ven asked.

            Kairi shook her head. “I’m from Radiant Garden, not the Destiny Islands, so my name isn’t–”

            “Well, ‘kai’ can mean ‘ocean’,” Riku interrupted, smirking, “but ‘kairi’ means ‘nautical mile’.”

            There was a spattering of laughter. Kairi glared at him, and he kissed her cheek. “You’re lucky I can’t move my arms,” she muttered.

            “That’s an odd theme, though” Aqua mused. “Sky, land, and ocean. It’s… actually sort of like Ven, Terra, and me.”

            “Really?” Xion asked.

            Aqua nodded. “‘Aqua’, meaning ‘water’, ‘Terra’, meaning ‘earth’, and ‘Ventus’, meaning ‘wind’.”

            “Ha. That’s really funny,” Lea said. “Glad I don’t fit the theme.”

            Ven and Aqua exchanged a glance. “Lea… you do know that a ‘lea’ is a kind of small hill, right?” Ven asked.

            “You’re kidding me.”

            Ven shrugged. “Nope.”

            “Well.” Lea said, sitting back a bit and critiquing his work. “You learn something new every day.”

            “The rest of us don’t match, though,” Naminé pointed out. “Roxas, Xion, and me.”

            “Well… that’s not completely true,” Riku said. “‘Nami’, at least, means ‘waves’.”

            “‘Né’ actually has a meaning, too,” Aqua said. “It’s one of the languages they used to speak in Disney Town. It’s a past-tense form of the verb ‘naître’ – to be born.”

            “So, your name kind of means ‘born of the waves?” Kairi asked. “That’s neat!”

            “That is neat,” Naminé murmured. “If a little uncomfortable, ‘ocean’.”

            Kairi gave her a wan smile. “Yeah, I get it.”

            “Ours don’t have a meaning, though?” Xion asked.

            Riku tilted his head. “Well, yours kind of does. ‘Xion’ doesn’t mean anything as far as I know, but it’s pretty close to a word from the Destiny Islands. ‘Shio’. It means, ‘tide’.”

            “There’s also…” Kairi trailed off, looking a bit unsure. “There’s a type of flower. In Radiant Garden, they’re called asters. But on the Islands, they’re called ‘shion’. They mean… ‘don’t forget me.’”

            “…Oh,” Xion said. Gently, Roxas took her hand, but she shook her head and smiled. “No, I… I actually like that.”

            Roxas smiled. “Like I keep telling you. You’re unforgettable.”

            She rolled her eyes and pushed his head to the side. “Shush.”

            “Never.”

            “So Roxas is the only one out, then!” Sora said. “His name doesn’t mean anything!”

            Roxas turned away from looking adoringly at Xion to glare at Sora. “And? My name is mine. I like it fine, thanks.”

            “Technically it’s an anagram of ‘Sora’ so it still fits the theme,” Kairi pointed out.

            Roxas made a face. “Ew.”

            “You know, now that we’re out of the Organization, you could drop the ‘X’s,” Lea remarked, with a teasing grin on his face. “We could call you Rosa! It means ‘rose’!”

            “And ‘pink’.” Aqua added, hiding her smirk with her book.

            “No, thank you,” Roxas ground out through clenched teeth. “I like my name just the way it is.”

            “I do, too,” Xion said. She leaned over and kissed him gently. Lea rolled his eyes.

            “That’s… actually a point of consideration,” Aqua said. “Don’t you worry that the “X”’s in your names could be used to track you? Like the Recusant’s Sigil that used to be all over our clothing?”

            Roxas shrugged. “Well, I figure Xehanort knows where we all are anyway, so what’s the point? If he even knows or cares that I exist to track me. He’s not going to attack us until he has his thirteen, anyway, and I’m not one of the seven to begin with. And as for Xion, nobody that’s still with Xehanort from back in the old Organization remembers her yet. So, she’s safe.”

            Aqua nodded. “That makes sense.”

            “So wait,” Sora said. “That means Xemnas, Xigbar, and Saïx don’t know Xion’s with us?”

            Xion nodded. “Unless someone tells them my name, I don’t think they’ll remember me at all. Which,” she added, “I’m completely fine with.”

            “It also means we have someone who’ll be a complete surprise to them,” Riku said. “When you guys get your Keyblades back.”

            There was a sudden pall cast over that side of the room. “…And we’re sure that will happen?” Roxas said, subdued. Xion squeezed his hand.

            “Yes, absolutely,” Aqua said. “Once a Keybearer, always a Keybearer, unless you choose not to use the Keyblade. I’m certain your Keyblades will come back.”

            “But… were we Keybearers?” Xion nearly whispered.

            “Yes, of course you were!” Sora insisted. “You couldn’t have been collecting hearts if you weren’t. I’m still not sure how the Organization managed to divert the hearts I collected, but if they could do it to my Keyblade, they must have done it to yours!”

            Kairi and Naminé caught each other’s eye and silently agreed not to point out the logical flaw: Just because the diverting of hearts had also been done to Sora’s Keyblade didn’t make Roxas’s and Xion’s Keyblades real.

            “Besides which,” Lea said, “if you ‘weren’t really Keybearers’ or whatever we could just do that Bequeathing thing again. Problem solved.”

            Aqua rolled her eyes. “The Bequeathing is supposed to be a solemn ceremony. The passing on of a responsibility to a worthy member of the next generation.”

            “Or they just grab it by accident,” Kairi interjected, grinning.

            “Or that,” Aqua said, resigned at this point.

            “So nothing to be worried about! Hakuna Matata and all that!” Sora said, grinning.

            “Hakuna Matata?” Aqua asked.

            Sora’s eyes lit up. “Hakuna Matata! What a wonderful phrase!” he started. Lea, Kairi, Riku, and Xion all glared at him, and he lost a bit of the glow.

            “Hakuna Matata. Ain’t no passing craze,” Roxas murmured. Sora’s grin brightened again.

            “It’s from the Pridelands,” he explained. “It means ‘no worries’.”

            “ _For the rest of your days…_ ” Roxas hummed, almost absentmindedly.

            “Wait, you can sing?” Aqua asked. “Ven can’t.”

            Ven looked over at her, betrayed. “Aqua, how could you?” he said, hurt.

            “I’m sorry, Ven, but you _really_ can’t sing,” she said, shrugging. “I think it’s called being tone deaf.”

            “Yeah, Sora can’t sing either,” Kairi said.

            “Hey!” Sora looked at their boyfriend. “Riku, Kairi’s being mean!”

            Riku shook his head, smiling. “Sorry, Sora. I love you, but she’s right. You’ve got a lot of enthusiasm, but not a lot of skill at staying on key.”

            “Heh, puns,” Lea said.

            Sora pouted. “Some friends.”

            “What are friends for if not giving you crap?” Roxas asked.

            “Lea is not indicative of a normal friendship,” Naminé said.

            “Hey!”

            “I was going by Kairi, actually,” said Roxas.

            “Hey!”

            “Oh, fair point.”

            “This is ridiculous,” Kairi said. “I don’t have to take this.”

            “I thought you wanted Naminé to draw our portrait?” Riku asked, smirking.

            “I did. I didn’t think getting roasted would be part of it.” Kairi glared at Naminé and Roxas.

            “Not to mention arm strain,” Sora agreed. The two hadn’t moved their arms from their raised position for the entire conversation. “How much longer is this going to be, Naminé?”

            “Hm? Oh, I’ve been done for a while now,” she said, grinning mischievously.

            “ _What?_ ”

            Naminé shrugged. “All I needed you to pose for was the rough sketch. The details I can do by myself.”

            “Then why didn’t you tell us we could put our arms down?!” Kairi demanded.

            In response, Naminé said nothing, but her grin widened considerably.

            “Urgh!” Kairi fumed, lowering her arms and crossing them. “I hope you know I _love_ you!” she growled.

            “Aw, thank you, Kairi,” Naminé said. “I love you, too.”

            Sora also lowered his arms. “Ow, ouch, cramping. Riku, can you rub my arms? Get some feeling back in them?”

            Riku looked at him. “Sora? In _public_?” he asked, smirking.

            Sora blushed immediately. “Rikuuuuuuu,” he pleaded.

            Riku laughed. “Give, dork.” He took Sora’s arm and started to knead the muscles.

            “Me next!” Kairi said.

            “Kairi? In _pub_ –”

            “Oh, shut up.”

            “So how did the picture turn out, Naminé?” Aqua asked.

            Naminé smiled. “Well, I might have gone a bit beyond what I originally intended.” She turned her sketchbook around to show a landscape drawing of not only Sora, Kairi, and Riku on the couch, but also Aqua, Ven, Roxas, and Xion on their chairs on either side of it. Sora and Kairi were presenting an amused Riku, Aqua looked incredibly enthralled by what she was reading, Ven was sitting sideways in the chair, with his legs slung over one of the arms, and Roxas was ignoring the book in his hands to stare, smiling, into Xion’s eyes as she sat in his lap, also smiling.

            “Wow! That’s great, Naminé!” Ven exclaimed.

            “Kinda sucks that you couldn’t be in it,” Roxas said.

            Lea grinned. “Show them the other one.”

            Naminé pouted. “Don’t look over my shoulder while I’m drawing, Lea.”

            “Sorry, sorry. But show them!”

            Naminé flipped the page. It was a portrait-oriented sketch of herself and Lea, in the middle of Lea braiding her hair. “I don’t know if it’s any good, there wasn’t a mirror for reference, and I never really draw myself,” she started, but was drowned out by the praise and adulation from her friends.

            “It’s amazing!” Xion said, smiling. “You even got the braid right!”

            “Yeah, that’s actually real impressive,” Lea said. “You could tell what kind of braid it was from just the feel?” He had done her hair in a French braid, and she was wearing the makings of the same style in the portrait.

            Naminé shrugged. “It just… seemed right.”

            “I wonder if Master Yen Sid has any frames lying around,” Aqua mused. “We should hang these up somewhere.”

            Naminé flushed. “I… I mean, you don’t have to… they’re really not that…”

            Sora stood up and leaned over to put a hand on her shoulder. “They’re great, Naminé! And we don’t have a camera, I think, so this is the closest we’re going to get to a group photo!”

            “I guess it is, isn’t it,” Naminé said, considering. “…I should do this again, when we’re all here.”

            “You mean when Mickey, Donald, and Goofy get back?” Sora asked.

            “Yes, but also… when we get Terra and Isa back,” she said. “When we’re finally all together.”

            Sora beamed. “Of course!”

            Aqua, Ven, and Lea were all smiling. Naminé smiled, too. Who knew how many days they’d have like this, being all together and talking about anything at all?

            Days like this were worth treasuring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the slice-of-lifeyist chapter in this purportedly slice-of-life fic. It was originally called "Nomenclature" (still is in my outline, in fact) and it was just going to be the discussion of their names and what they mean.   
> Then I wrote it out and went "nah, that's too short" so I just... let the conversation continue.  
> I've said before that Roxas can sing because I'm a huge fan of the "character can sing because their actor is a professional singer" trope, but I'm just as fond of its conceptual opposite: "character _can't_ sing because their actor is a professional singer". It's a cute little in-joke if you know what the actor usually does professionally. Fortunately, with both Ven and Roxas, I didn't have to choose!  
>  I should probably also explicitly lay out "I hope you know I LOVE you!" There was an old series of commercials for... I can't even remember what. Phone plans, I think, but the point is they were structured like people having angry shouting matches, but what they were saying was always incredibly positive and considerate. The one in particular that sticks in my memory is a teen girl arguing with her mother, which eventually culminates in the girl yelling "I LOVE you!" at the top of her lungs, and the mother looking shocked and responding quietly, "I know you mean that."  
> Which is a roundabout way of explaining the text, but not the subtext. There is no reason, under any circumstances, that Kairi would ever let the phrase "I hate you" leave her mouth directed at Naminé, even as a joke, even as teasing, even as a reaction to being messed with. That's why.   
> I think that's about it, as always, ask if you want more information on anything!


	10. Addressing the Elephant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stuck on a slow train ride into Twilight Town together, Roxas and Ventus discuss their similarities, and their differences.

            Roxas stepped into the driverless train car that ran between the Mysterious Tower and Twilight Town and froze. He was going into town because someone had eaten all of the cheese snacks, which were Xion’s favourite. He was hoping to get back before she noticed they were gone; he hadn’t eaten them himself, of course, but he figured this was the right thing to do. He’d figure out who had eaten them when he got back; he could still be quite intimidating when he wanted to be, even if it was really only Sora that he could intimidate. Kairi and Axel would laugh him off, it would be mean to do that to Xion or Naminé, and he figured trying to strong-arm Aqua was a death sentence. Riku was still susceptible to it, but Roxas figured it was more out of guilt than actual fear. Ventus… was something else entirely.

            And he was already in the train car.

            Which is why Roxas had frozen.

            Ven had frozen, too, because this was the first time the two had been in the same place together, alone, since they’d arrived at the Tower.

            “Uh…” Roxas said, pointing back at the door. “I can catch a different one if–”

            The door slid shut and the train started moving.

            “Well, not now you can’t,” Ven said, smiling faintly.

            There was an awkward silence.

            “So… what’s bringing you to Twilight Town?” Roxas asked.

            “Aqua’s out of ice cream,” Ven said. “She likes this flavour called ‘royalberry’; I’m not sure if they have any but I’m going to check.”

            Roxas frowned. “Doesn’t the Tower make food by itself?”

            “For some reason, it doesn’t seem to want to make stuff like that. Guess that’s why we have the ice cream maker.”

            Roxas nodded. He had noticed that Xion’s snacks didn’t replenish themselves, either. Maybe due to the inherently unhealthy nature. “I’m trying to find some cheese… things… for Xion. Someone ate them, not sure who.”

            Ven nodded. “Same thing happened to Aqua’s. Hopefully I can find some before she notices.” He frowned. “Not sure where she picked up that flavour. I’d never heard of it before.”

            Roxas shrugged. “Sea-salt flavour is my favourite. I’ve never really thought to try anything else.”

            “Why not?” Ven asked.

            “It… means a lot to me,” Roxas said.

            Ven nodded. “I’ve never had it.”

            Roxas stared. “…People keep telling me that, and it’s… how?” he said, amused. “How can you not have had sea-salt ice cream?”

            Ven sat down on one of the seats and motioned Roxas over. “It sounds like it was real important to you.” He frowned. “…am I sure I’ve never had it?” he murmured to himself.

            Roxas nodded, and sat down across from him. “It was. The first time I came back from a mission with Axel, he brought me to the clock tower above the train station in Twilight Town. We had sea-salt ice cream. It was the first frame of reference I ever had for friendship. Not having a heart back then… to me, ‘friends’ were the people you ate ice cream with.” He looked down at his hands. “If I hadn’t had those conversations, made those connections… I might never had gotten my own heart.”

            Ven nodded. “Makes sense why it’s so important to you!”

            Roxas, to his surprise, found himself smiling. “Yeah, it is. And it was such a formational part of my life it’s still odd when people say they don’t like it. Like Sora, for example. Mom says he never liked it.”

            Ven nodded. “Different taste buds, right?”

            “I… guess…” Roxas said.

            There was another awkward silence.

            Ven shifted uncomfortably. “Do we… want to talk about that?”

            “About… me, having your face?” Roxas asked, just as uncomfortable.

            “Y…yeah,” Ven said. There was silence again. “Does it bother you?”

            Roxas leaned back in the seat. “Actually… no, no it doesn’t.”

            Ven blinked. “Really? Why not?”

            Roxas shrugged. “Because… Ever since I first… came into being, I guess, is the term for it… people kept comparing me to Sora. Because even thought I look like this – like you – I was _his_ Nobody. So in the Organization, I was being held up against Sora’s standard, and Riku kept showing up and calling me Sora, and… I hated every second of it. Because who the hell is Sora?” He grimaced. “Not me. I didn’t remember being Sora at all. So I might as well never have been, and the fact that I was created from him… is just dumb coincidence. ‘Sora’ was this person I was being held up against, a mold I was expected to fit into, and I _didn’t_. Or worse, sometimes I _did_. I hated that even more.” He chuckled. “So imagine how it felt when I’d resigned myself to just being a facet of Sora, and then met him for real for the first time, without fighting each other… and the one most important thing he tries to tell me is that he considers me a different person.” He looked out the window of the train. “It meant a lot. And it’s a huge part of why I think I did the right thing in giving his body back. It really did have to be him.” He looked back at Ven. “But if you tell anyone I said that I’ll deny it.”

            “All right,” Ven said. “But… what does this have to do with us looking alike?”

            Roxas smiled. “Because, in all the time we’ve been here, no one has mistaken me for you. Not a single person who’s met both of us. Not even Aqua, and I was kind of expecting it from her. Nobody has accidentally called me ‘Ven’. So, knowing that I look like you… I can live with it. Because the people whose opinions I care about… and Riku… know the difference.”

            Ven snorted. “Okay, wait. That’s very touching, but what is going on between you and Riku? Because it sounds like you have something against him?”

            “He convinced my girlfriend to give up her existence for his boyfriend’s sake and interrupted my hot-headed revenge rampage, which I admit in retrospect was a bad decision, and shoved me into a digital world in preparation for effectively killing me so, again, his boyfriend could wake up.” Roxas deadpanned. “So excuse me if I’m still a bit mad about that.”

            Ven’s mouth was hanging open. “…oh?”

            Roxas smirked. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against him as a person. But giving him shit gives me life.” His smirk turned sour. “I’d do it to his face if his self-confidence wasn’t somewhere down in his shoes. Damn conscience. But what about you? I’m sure me… existing… was a bit of a shock.”

            It was Ven’s turn to sink back into his seat. “You… could say that, yes. But not for the reasons you might think.” He looked out the window, not meeting Roxas’s eyes. “And seeing Sora for the first time, that… that was worse.”

            “Worse?”

            Ven pressed his lips together. “Gee, how do I talk about this…?” he murmured to himself. “Do you know who…Vanitas is?”

            Roxas nodded. “Your other.”

            “My… ‘other’. Huh. That’s a good way to put it.” Ven crossed his arms, uncomfortable. “You aren’t like him.”

            “Were you expecting me to be?” Roxas asked, slightly amused.

            That brought a smirk to Ven’s face. “I wasn’t expecting you at all!” His smile dimmed. “Or Sora.”

            Roxas frowned. “I’m not seeing the connection here.”

            Ven sighed. “You know how you look like me, even though by rights you should look like Sora?”

            “I’m not a fan of that phrasing, but yes?”

            “Well, seeing as he used to be a part of me, Vanitas should have looked like me, right?”

            Roxas pursed his lips, then it hit him. “You’re saying…”

            “Under that mask, Vanitas looked like Sora,” Ven said, quietly.

            “So that’s why you froze when you first saw him,” Roxas said. “Because the last time you saw it, a person with that face was trying to kill you.”

            Ven nodded. “He wasn’t a perfect match. His hair was black, and his eyes were gold, and his skin was lighter. But… the face, and voice…”

            “Must have been rough, seeing Sora after waking up,” Roxas said, sympathetically.

            “A bit. But he’s very different from Vanitas,” Ven said.

            “Still, I see how that could be uncomfortable, hanging around someone who looks a lot like someone you hate,” Roxas said, but stopped when he saw the look on Ven’s face.

            “I… don’t know how to feel about him, actually.”

            “You don’t?”

            Ven grimaced. “I saw his face.”

            “…yes, and?”

            Ven sighed. “No, you don’t get it. I saw his _face_.”

            Roxas resisted the impulse to roll his eyes. “Ventus, you need to give me more information. I don’t know what ‘I saw his face’ _means_.”

            “After I beat him in my heart… and after Aqua beat him in the real world, I think… he lost his grip on the χ–blade. And the look on his face…” Ven closed his eyes and shuddered a bit. “He wasn’t angry, he was… _terrified_. Like he had lost something so important.”

            “So?” Roxas asked.

            “I have no idea! I should _hate_ him, but… all I can do is _pity_ him. I don’t have clear memories of my time as Xehanort’s apprentice. They’re there, but they’re foggy; and I don’t really want them back to begin with. But what I _do_ remember…” he took a deep breath. “Vanitas had four years of that. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. So maybe… maybe he wanted the χ–blade because it was the only way he’d get out from under Xehanort’s boot?”

            “That doesn’t excuse the fucked up shit he did,” Roxas said, quietly.

            Ven shook his head. “No, no, that’s not what I mean. I can understand why he did what he did and still acknowledge what he did was wrong, you know? And… he was _me_.”

            “What do you mean?” Roxas asked.

            Ven tilted his head back and forth, unsure how to explain what he meant. “You and Sora aren’t the same person. Never were, right?”

            “Yeah?”

            “Well, it’s not the same for me and Vanitas. We were the same person, once. Until Xehanort ripped him out of me.”

            Roxas frowned. “But he was your darkness, right? Not…” Ven was shaking his head.

            “It doesn’t work like that. He was my darkness, yeah, but my darkness was still _mine_. Was still _me_. By the time we fought and he died, he definitely had his own personality, but at the beginning…” Ven trailed off.

            Roxas was beginning to understand. “Under the same circumstances… if it was you…”

            Ven nodded. “I don’t know that I would have turned out any differently. I can’t know. So, who knows what he could have been, could have become, if he had the opportunities and environment that I did? If he had… the family.” He smiled, sadly. “So, I pity him. Because he could’ve been so much more than he was.”

            Roxas nodded slowly. “…I think I get it.” He looked down at his hands. “Did you know Xion and I were backup plans?”

            “Huh?”

            “Organization XIII needed Keybearers to collect hearts for their fake Kingdom Hearts. But, at the time, everyone thought there was only one Keybearer – Sora. So, they made a plan to rewrite his memories, to control him. If that didn’t work out… I was plan B.”

            “But… if you were already working with them, why weren’t you plan A?”

            Roxas smiled ruefully. “You know how Nobodies don’t have hearts? And you know how you need a heart to use a Keyblade?”

            “Oh, I see,” Ven said, then frowned. “But wait. You did have a Keyblade.”

            Roxas shrugged. “Yeah… I’m not sure why. But, if they hadn’t messed with Sora, he would have started working to stop them the second he caught wind of their plans. He’s just that kind of person. Regardless, that plan fell through, thanks to Naminé. So it was down to Xion and me.”

            “Xion was plan C?”

            Roxas nodded. “She was a Replica of Sora, designed to drain the memories and power out of me. They figured that one of us would come out on top, and be their perfect heart-gatherer.”

            Ven frowned. “Obviously that didn’t happen.”

            Roxas laughed, humorlessly. “No, it did not. We grew hearts, Riku and Naminé got in contact with us and explained… not everything, but enough to confirm that we were being lied to. But my point in all this is… If we hadn’t made those connections, to Axel and to each other and to Riku and Naminé… Xion and I would basically just be weapons. We didn’t have pasts to cling to like the other Nobodies. We would’ve only been what they made us.”

            “You’re saying it’s a bit like Vanitas.”

            “I am.” Roxas shifted. “Not completely, but it’s not dissimilar. And you’re right. It sounds like he didn’t have anyone.”

            There was another, less awkward silence as they contemplated the discussion. Eventually, Ven said. “Did you say… you didn’t have a past? I thought Master Yen Sid said that Nobodies kept their memories from being Somebodies.”

            Roxas started. “Oh, uh, yeah. But, I didn’t. We’re not sure why. There were a lot of things that made it more complicated than normal; you being involved, Kairi being involved, Naminé being created at the same time, not to mention Sora being turned back into a person almost immediately afterwards. So, when I came into being, I didn’t have any memories. I wandered around in a daze for the first week of my life.”

            Ven was nodding, guarded. “What changed? Cause something had to’ve.”

            Roxas smiled. “Axel. He took me under his wing, showed me… everything I needed to know and then some. I wouldn’t be here without him.”

            “I see.” Ven tapped his fingers on his leg. “I… was kind of the same way, for a while.”

            “You were?”

            “Uh-huh. Right after… it, happened. What was left of me after Sora reached out and patched my heart was… walking around, but not much else. The first time I met Aqua and Terra I practically shut down just because Terra asked me some basic questions about who I was. He wasn’t even trying to hurt me, he was just curious and didn’t know. I barely remember meeting them that day. I just… gradually became aware of them as my heart healed. And then it was like I’d never been anywhere but the Land of Departure, with Terra, Aqua, and the Master.” There was a sad smile on his face.

            “So… you still don’t remember your life before that?” Roxas asked. “You said it was fuzzy?” It occurred to him that this might be a sore subject for Ven. “Sorry, uh, if you don’t want to talk about that.”

            “It’s okay,” Ven said. He sighed. “Here’s the thing, Roxas. I’ve had amnesia twice.”

            Roxas blinked. “Twice?”

            “After… _that_ happened, I lost my memories. I only started getting them back after fighting Vanitas, four years later. That’s why… I kept having nightmares when I was in Sora. Usually it was about what happened to Terra, or Aqua, or the Master, but sometimes… sometimes it was about the time I was Xehanort’s apprentice.”

            “I’m sorry,” Roxas said, sympathetically.

            “Thanks,” Ven said, with a small smile. “But the thing is, I don’t remember anything before that. I can’t have been his apprentice from the day I was born, but… everything before being his apprentice is a blank. I don’t even remember how I got my Keyblade, or who Bequeathed it.”

            “Does… that matter?” Roxas asked, cautiously. “I mean, I’m kind of biased, but I’ve always thought it doesn’t matter where you come from.”

            “Well, I don’t think my past is that big of a deal,” Ven said, “but, if I had other friends… if I had a family…”

            “You’d want to know,” Roxas realized. “They could still be out there somewhere, not knowing what happened to you.”

            Ven nodded, slowly. “Yep. It’s not a huge deal, but… maybe, after we stop Xehanort… I’d like to look into my history. See if there’s anything I can find out.”

            “Did you ask Yen Sid?” Roxas asked.

            “Nah. Like I said, after Xehanort.” His mouth turned down. “If there’s even anything to find out.” Eventually, his lips turned back up into a smile. “But, even if there isn’t, that’s okay. Because I have Aqua and Terra, and all of the rest of you, too.”

            There was another silence. Ven cleared his throat. “Uh, if that’s okay. I know we’ve barely talked and all–”

            Roxas interrupted him by holding out his hand. “Hi, Ventus. My name is Roxas. It’s nice to finally meet you.” He smiled.

            Ven grinned back, and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, too, Roxas. I’m Ventus. Call me Ven.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, Ven's secret is out! If only just to Roxas at the moment. And they're friends now!  
> I actually had to go back through the other chapters after writing this to omit any occasion of Roxas calling Ventus "Ven". Fortunately, there were almost no instances of that. I kind of fell into a bad habit in this fic of having chapters fall into either "Aqua and Ven" or "Roxas, Lea, and Xion" chapters with almost no overlap between them. Fortunately that should be alleviated somewhat towards the end here.  
> Was anyone wondering why I kept referring to a hypothetical conversation between Roxas and Ven as "addressing that elephant"? Now you know why! I'm the kind of writer where exact wording matters.  
> This is the chapter where I finally think I nailed down how I want to write Roxas, after he practically screamed in my ear to add in the "and Riku" bit. Like he says, he doesn't really like Riku all that much. He's got no problems working with him, but he'd probably have to be dragged along to spend time with him (at this point). More generally speaking, Roxas is always, no matter what else he's feeling, always about 10% angry about what happened to him and his friends. That said, he's also capable of being incredibly kind and complimentary to the people he cares about.  
> So basically what I'm saying is, Roxas is salty, but also sweet.  
> ...I'll see myself out.


	11. Heartbeats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kairi, Sora, and Riku spend some much-needed time together after coming back from their first mission.

            Her pulse was pounding in her ears.

            She wasn’t listening, she wasn’t adding anything, as Riku and Sora gave Yen Sid their mission debrief.

            Their first mission together.

            _A flash and PAIN and red, red, red, and where’s Sora where did he go why is –_

            She wavered, only slightly, but Yen Sid saw it.

            “Kairi?” he asked, not unkindly. “Is everything all right?”

            “Yeah I’m fine,” she said, _too fast too fast wrong cadence won’t believe me_

            Now Sora and Riku were looking at her, concern in their eyes. “You don’t look like you’re fine,” Sora said, and reached out for her _red red red covering her hands not okay pain where did he go why won’t Riku say something why_

The terror must have shown on her face, because both of them reached out to embrace her. “It’s okay, it’s okay, we’re all here, we’re all safe, we’re okay,” Sora whispered, a quiet chant to push away the gloom. Riku held her tightly, lips pressed against her head, whispering “I’ve got you, we’ve got you, you’re not alone.”

            “I suggest you take some time to recentre,” Yen Sid said. “And Kairi – the demands I am forced to make of you are inherently unreasonable. In a perfect world, I would never send any of you into these situations. I beg of you, do not feel ashamed for responding in a way that is only natural for any sane person.”

            Kairi nodded, barely hearing, hands locked on Sora and Riku’s arms as they guided her down to their room. They placed her gently on the bed, and sat down beside her, still murmuring words of comfort. “We’re all okay, no one got hurt, it all turned out fine–”

            “ _It’s not FINE_!” she shrieked, and pulled away from them to stand pressed against the opposite wall. “It’s not, it’s not,” she whimpered, as tears poured down her face. “When the spell hit, you were _GONE_ , Sora! You were just _GONE_!” She lifted her hands, palms up, showing them. Her hands were clean. Now. “Red stains, that’s all that there was, just red stains! If Riku hadn’t…” she choked off, overcome, and slowly slid to the floor, sobbing. “If Riku didn’t have that phoenix whatever you wouldn’t _BE HERE_ right now!” she forced out. “You’d be..! You’d be..!”

            Both of them were by her side almost instantly. “I’m not,” Sora said, pulling her to his chest. “I’m not. The worst didn’t happen, I’m right here.”

            This didn’t do much to stem the tide of tears. “But you _could have been_!” she pleaded, why didn’t they understand? “We almost lost you!”

            “We bit off more than we could chew,” Riku said. “We were overconfident and unprepared, it won’t happen again. We took stupid risks, made stupid mistakes, and yes, we got very, very lucky.” He leaned down to her and placed a hand on her cheek. “And the most important thing is that we’re through it. We all made it out, no matter how drastic things became.”

            “I… I _know_ that, but…” Kairi sobbed, shaking.

            “It’s okay. It’s the adrenaline, you’re still panicked from it,” Sora said. Riku raised an eyebrow at him. “What?” Sora said. “I know _some_ big words.”

            Gently, the two of them lifted Kairi up and placed her on the bed, lying down one on either side of her. “You’re safe, Sora’s safe,” Riku whispered.

            “Riku’s safe, too,” Sora added, and Kairi choked out a laugh.

            “Stay with me,” she whispered.

            “Always.”

            “Always.”

            Normally, when the three of them would cuddle together, they’d wind up with the two on the outside resting on the shoulders of the one in the centre; typically, Riku, due to both his height and the fact that he felt less need to wander at night if he was surrounded. This time, however, Kairi was in the centre, and Sora and Riku both maneuvered her so that her head was in between their chests. It was slightly uncomfortable for them, but she was worth it.

            The position meant that her ears were level with their hearts, and in the quiet, she could hear both their hearts, beating steadily. Calm, comforting, and alive.

            “Thank you,” she whispered, so quietly it was almost inaudible.

            Riku and Sora both smiled. “We love you, Kairi,” Riku said, and Sora nodded emphatically.

            “Can we… talk?” she asked.

            “Yeah, of course,” Sora said. “What about?”

            She didn’t have the energy to pull herself up, not that she wanted to, not when she needed the sound of their hearts right now. “The Fall of Radiant Garden.”

            She couldn’t see it, but Sora and Riku caught each other’s eyes over her head. “Are you sure?” Riku asked, gently. “It’s been… a day.”

            “I think it has to do with why I’m feeling the way I do,” Kairi said. “Please?”

            “Absolutely,” Riku assured her. “Where do you want to start?” Sora asked.

            Kairi was quiet for a long while. “…I had a grandmother,” she said, eventually. It wasn’t new information to either of them, but they said nothing, knowing she had to start somewhere. “And… she _was_ my grandmother. I don’t know anything about my parents. I don’t remember them at all. But I had her.”

            Gently, Riku took her hand. She squeezed it, almost unconsciously. “That day, I had snuck out to pick flowers. Again. It’s the same thing I did the day I met Aqua.” A tear leaked down her cheek. “It was the last time I saw her. I was in one of the gardens in the town, not the castle, because that was usually the first place she’d check. It was a perfectly normal day, and I was happy.”

            A single tear rolled down her cheek. “And then the castle exploded.”

            Sora took her other hand. “I… in retrospect I know what happened. Xehanort’s experiments, creating Emblem Heartless, turning Lea and the rest into Nobodies. But I didn’t know any of that at the time.

            “There were… screams, and fire, and I didn’t know where my grandmother was. I… I tried to look for her, but… but I didn’t get far, because… because…”

            She sniffed, and Sora reached over for a box of tissues, and gently set them on her chest. Despite the powerful emotions tearing inside her, she laughed a bit. “Thank you.” She let go of their hands for a second to clear her nose. Frowning, she held up the tissue in confusion over where to put it, until Riku plucked it out of her hand and tossed it off the bed. “Hey, that’s littering,” she accused.

            He shrugged, as best he could lying on his side. “I’ll get it later.” She took their hands again.

            “Heartless,” she said. “Emblem, pureblood. All over the streets. I stopped looking for my grandmother and started running for my life. I was… s-small, I thought I could hide. But… they found me.”

            Sora and Riku’s grips tightened on her hands. “They had me backed into a corner. It was… just some stupid Shadows. I’d have no problem with them now–”

            “Hey, none of that,” Sora said, poking her nose with his free hand. “You were four.”

            “Meh.”

            “He’s right,” Riku agreed. “Don’t be frustrated with four-year-old Kairi because she couldn’t do what sixteen-year-old Kairi can.”

            She squeezed both of their hands. “I love you both, you know that?”

            “Yeah!” “Of course.”

            “It wasn’t the Shadows that were the problem, though,” she continued. “They got destroyed.”

            “Someone rescued you?” Sora asked. “Who was it?”

            “Not… exactly. It was… Ansem.”

            Riku frowned. “But… didn’t he get banished to the Realm of Darkness? How could he have–?”

            “Not… not that Ansem, Riku,” Kairi whispered.

            “…Oh,” he said, quietly, and his grip on her hand tightened.

            “But… you got away?” Sora asked, just as quietly.

            Slowly, Kairi nodded. “The moment he grabbed me… Aqua’s spell activated. Everything after that… you two know. I came to the Destiny Islands, and I couldn’t remember any of this until Castle Oblivion.” She sniffed again. “It barely feels real.”

            “You’re safe now. We all are,” Riku reassured her.

            A couple more tears ran down Kairi’s cheeks. “Thank you.”

            “Kairi?” Sora asked.

            “Yes, Sora?”

            “I… I feel like it’s bad to ask this, but… why now? For talking about this, I mean.”

            Kairi tensed, and squeezed both of her hands tightly. “Because… I lost everything that day. And today… I nearly lost everything again. You two are… the brightest parts of my life. Yes, you too, Riku,” she added. He hadn’t made any indication he was internally disputing it, but squeezed her hand back in thanks regardless. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost either of you. Or worse, both of you.”

            “That will never happen,” Sora said, with the quiet confidence that only he had. It wasn’t a boast, it wasn’t grandstanding, it was just a promise. One they all knew he would keep, no matter what got in his way. “We’re not losing anyone else. You aren’t going to lose us.”

            Kairi took another tissue. “Sora, I know you mean that, but right now my brain is screaming that there’s no way you can promise that. That things like what happened today could happen again, with no way of fixing it. And I’m so _scared_.”

            “You’d be crazy not to be,” Riku said. “But right now, in this moment, we’re just in bed together. No one’s going to get hurt, no one’s in danger. It’s just us.”

            Kairi sniffed. “I suppose there are worse places to be than sandwiched between two cute boys,” she said, a small smile easing its way onto her face.

            “Wouldn’t it need to be vertical for it to be a sandwich?” Sora asked. “You lying on top of Riku, and me on top of you?”

            There was a second of silence.

            “I mean, we can do that if you want to,” Riku said, smirking.

            “Why Sora,” Kairi purred. “I never thought _you’d_ want to be the top.”

            Sora’s cheeks immediately flushed bright red, and he glared at them both. “Well, _someone_ has to be,” he said, “and we all know it isn’t gonna be Riku.”

            There was more silence. “I feel like I should be insulted,” Riku said, “but mostly I’m just proud of you.”

            They both looked down in surprise as Kairi started shaking between them. She was laughing harder than she had thought possible. “I-I-I’m proud of you, too,” she choked out between gasps for air. “ _Light_ , Sora!”

            He was still blushing, but he beamed. “Problem, Kairi?”

            “ _Yes_ , actually. I’m lying between two cute boys and neither of them are kissing me.” She pouted, playfully.

            Riku and Sora exchanged a smirk. “Well, I think we can fix that,” Riku said. “Sora?”

            “Age before beauty, Riku,” Sora said, still bright red but happy to be playing along.

            It was an enjoyable evening to a stressful day. As Kairi lay there, much later in the night, still between her now-sleeping boys, she smiled to herself.

            “I’m so lucky to have both of you,” she said, quietly. “Ow.” She winced, and rubbed her fingers along her lips. “Well shit. Guess I need to invest in lip balm if you two are going to keep kissing me that much.”

            A chapped pair of lips was a small price to pay for being loved so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear, I will not kill anyone else offscreen, I promise!  
> I started writing this chapter long before any of the others. I started writing it while I was writing KLEA. I say "started"; at the time, I thought I had finished it. Originally, Heartbeats only ran until the line "Calm, comforting, and alive." That's about how long I expected each of these chapters to be.   
> But, then LoO came out, and a bunch of you remarked on how Kairi was gonna have some shit to work through with Sora and Riku after getting back, and I realized, "shit, you're absolutely right, I didn't even consider that." So, it got tacked on here. The break is extremely obvious to me, but hopefully it was less obvious for you.   
> The second half, the discussion of Radiant Garden and whatnot, was written as part of the process of writing the rest of this fic. Generally speaking, unless I really, _really_ feel inspired and want to get something out, I write these in the same order they're posted. Helps to keep the story in order, so I'm not working back to where I've already been. (Exceptions to this include the FF13 and Star Wars chapters of KLEA, the SoRiKai kiss in fal-tor-pan, and When They Come Back).   
>  Short chapter, not a lot to discuss, sorry for killing Sora (but hey, also brought him back immediately, right? Right?) Next chapter will deal with something that should have been done a long time ago...


	12. Icing on the Cake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxas, Xion, and Lea take care of something that's long overdue.

            “Come _on_ , Axel! Hurry up!”

            “Rox, it doesn’t matter how fast we go, the clocktower is still going to be there,” Lea said, amused.

            Roxas frowned. “That’s not the point and you know it!”

            “Yeah, Lea! Hurry up!” Xion insisted, pouting. Roxas kissed her cheek and she brightened immediately. Lea sighed, and chuckled.

            They had been sitting in the common room in the Mysterious Tower, Lea taking a break from training with Ven and Aqua, when Xion had shot to her feet.

            “Holy SHIT, guys! We forgot!”

            “Forgot what?” Roxas asked.

            Xion beamed. “We’re all back. All of us. We’re all alive, we’re all here, and we’re a train ride from Twilight Town!”

            “So?” Lea asked, but Roxas caught on immediately.

            “Fuck, we did forget!”

            “Forget what?” Lea asked. “Does someone want to clue me in?”

            Roxas and Xion looked at each other with identical smiles, then back to Lea. “We haven’t gone for ice cream yet!”

            And so they found themselves in Twilight Town, heading up to the clocktower. The lady at the ice cream stand was shocked, but pleased, to see them all together again, and out of the creepy black coats. It took them a second to figure out how to get up on the clocktower without Dark Corridor-ing right to the top, but fortunately Roxas remembered how to find the staircase from the digital Twilight Town.

            Lea sat down with a sigh and passed the bars of ice cream (sea salt, of course) to Roxas and Xion, who settled in next to him. “We made it,” he said, smiling.

            Their grins could have lit the entire town. “We did,” Roxas said. He looked off towards a spot in the distance and frowned, reaching for Xion’s hand. She took his and squeezed it.

            “Are we okay?” he asked her, quietly.

            Xion leaned against him, laying her head on his shoulder. “I am. Are you?”

            Roxas considered this for a second. “Yeah. Yeah, I am. Lots of good memories here, too.”

            She smiled, and kissed his cheek. Lea was pretty sure he knew what they were talking about, and decided to give them this moment, taking a bite of his ice cream. Salty, but sweet, just like always.

            “You two are fucking cute, you know that?” he said, after an appropriate amount of time. Roxas glared and Xion blushed.

            “Fuck off,” Roxas said, and turned to kiss Xion on the lips.

            Lea clutched his chest. “Oh, my poor heart! What happened to that nice boy I used to know?”

            “I hung out with an asshole for a year,” Roxas said, drily.

            Lea snickered. “And yet you turned out pretty all right. Both of you did.”

            “We did,” Xion agreed. “Thanks, Dad.”

            Lea almost dropped his ice cream. “No! Do _not_ do that to me! You two are my _friends_! I’m not… don’t call me… No!”

            “Okay, okay,” Xion said, smirking. “Note to self: Lea doesn’t like being called ‘da–’”

            Roxas clapped a hand over her mouth. “And I really don’t ever want to hear you say that word,” he said, sternly, “because I don’t, either.”

            Xion shook with laugher behind his hand. “You two are really easy to tease, you know that?” she said, once he’d taken his hand back.

            “Kairi is a bad influence on you,” Lea said. Roxas nodded his agreement, and Xion stuck out her tongue at them.   

            Roxas bit into his ice cream, savouring the taste. Eating it through Sora hadn’t been the same, probably because Sora, inconceivably, didn’t like the flavour.

            But… something still felt off, somehow. He opened his mouth to say something about it, when Xion suddenly said, “Does it feel like something’s still missing to either of you?”

            “Yeah, I was just gonna say,” he agreed. “Axel?”

            Lea nodded, slowly. “Couldn’t be the coats, right? That’s the only difference I can see. Aside from you two making out, obviously.”

            “No, I don’t think that’s it,” Xion said, after kissing Roxas again just to spite him. “I don’t know. It feels like we’re still forgetting something.”

            “I get that. Any idea what?” Lea asked.

            Roxas frowned, deep in thought. “Getting ice cream with friends…” he murmured, and then straightened. “I know what it is!”

 

 

            It had taken significantly longer to work this out, but a couple hours later they were back on the clocktower. Roxas sat in the centre, with Lea to his right and Xion to his left, just like always.

            But this time, to Lea’s right sat Naminé, and to hers, Kairi, Sora, and Riku. To Xion’s left, Hayner, Pence, and Olette. On the other side of Olette was Ventus, and Aqua. On the other side of Riku, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. Yen Sid had turned down the invitation.

            “There, that’s what was missing,” Roxas said. “It’s not ice cream with friends, without all our friends.”        

            Lea chuckled, and mussed his hair. “Still a nice boy deep down!”

            “Oh, go… jump off… a bridge…” Roxas said, with a grumpy glance at Sora. For some reason he didn’t comprehend, Roxas could not let a swearword pass his lips in front of the other boy. To the best of his knowledge, no one could.

            Sora, for his part, was grimacing at the ice cream in his hand. “But why sea-salt?” he muttered. “It doesn’t even taste good.”

            “One ice cream bar isn’t going to kill you, Sora,” Kairi said.

            “It’s important to them,” Naminé added.

            “And who knows? Maybe you’re used to the flavour by now,” Riku teased.

            Sora sighed. “Fine.” He took a bite, wincing a bit at the taste.

            On the other side, Ven was looking at the ice cream with a similar expression. “Why does this seem familiar?” he murmured to himself. Olette coughed.

            “So, um, you’re Ventus, right? Kairi said there was someone else that looked exactly like Roxas around?” she asked.

            Ven looked up and grinned. “That’s right. Call me Ven!” He shook her hand. “And this is Aqua.”

            Aqua waved. “Hello. It’s nice to meet you.”

            “Nice to meet you, too. I’m Olette, and this is Pence and Hayner. We live here in Twilight Town.” Pence and Hayner waved hello.

            “Oh, yes, Kairi mentioned you three,” said Aqua, smiling.

            Ven suddenly perked up. “Wait, Pence and Olette? Are you the two that can’t admit you like each other?”

            Olette and Pence froze, both turning slowly red. “Ven… that’s not something you should really ask people,” Aqua said, resigned to this sort of thing happening. “Especially ones you just met.”

            On the other side of Pence and Olette, who couldn’t meet each other’s eyes, Hayner was grinning. “Finally! Ven, I think I’m gonna like you,” he said.

            Mickey looked over at the assembled group and smiled. “Gosh, it’s a big group now, isn’t it?”

            “Yep. Plenty of friends!” Goofy agreed.

            “Hmph. More kids to worry about,” Donald griped, but they both knew he wasn’t serious.

            “Well, I’m sure we can handle it!” Mickey said. “Now, let’s try this ice cream!” He took a bite. “Hmm. Salty, but… also sweet!”

            “I’m glad you thought of this, Roxas,” Xion said, kissing his temple. “It didn’t feel right without everyone.”

            “Well, it’s still not everyone yet,” Roxas said. “There’s still that Terra guy to get. And…” he trailed off, looking over at Lea. “And Sa – Isa, too.”

            Lea’s eyes widened. “Rox, you mean it?” he asked. “I’m not asking you to like him–”

            “I’m not promising I will,” Roxas said. “But… the least I can do is meet the real him, right? After that… we’ll see.”

            Lea smiled. “I can live with that.” He took another bite of his ice cream.

            There’s some logic in the idea that if you’ve seen one sunset in Twilight Town, you’ve seen them all. But, that cold assumption doesn’t take into account one important detail. It’s not the event itself that makes something special, it’s the people you share it with.

            Roxas, Lea, and Xion had seen hundreds of sunsets in Twilight Town. But this one, this one was special, and they’d always remember it fondly. After everything that had happened to them, and with what still needed to be accomplished ahead in the distance, it was a day to relax, and enjoy what they’d achieved thus far.

            To enjoy the icing on their cake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I... actually don't think I have anything to say about this. Huh. That's weird.   
> Will there be another one of these once everyone's back? Probably. I do want to do at least one fic of immediate wrap-up once Xehanort's gone, and that might be a good ending note for it... but wait, no, that wouldn't work with thing so maybe it would have to be in the one just before the dealing-with-Xehanort one... This is why I don't share my plans before they're set in stone.   
> So... yeah. One week left. Two chapters. Both have Aqua, both will be much, much longer than this.   
> See you then!


	13. Loving You Already

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aqua and Lea compare experiences while engaging in an adult activity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter, including the title, was inspired by [this](http://kiraraboshi.tumblr.com/post/170273400671/let-them-interact) fanart by [kiraraboshi](http://kiraraboshi.tumblr.com/).

            Aqua looked at the people assembled in front of her. “Well, today was an excellent warm-up, wouldn’t you say?”       

            “ _Warm-up?!_ ” Sora gasped, panting. “Aqua, that was… that was…”

            “Oh, don’t be a baby,” Lea grinned. “It was just some stance drills.”

            “Yeah, it’s not that big a deal, Sora,” Kairi said, also grinning.

            Sora, as well as Riku, Roxas, and Xion, all glared at them. Naminé was just as winded as the other four, but she just rolled her eyes, knowing why those two were used to it.

            As part of teaching the newer Keybearers Command Styles, Aqua had been giving them instruction in traditional Keyblade forms (Roxas and Xion continued to use wooden swords in lieu of their still-absent Keyblades). Her training was harsh, but fair; she demanded a lot from them, but also made sure they received the support they needed to reach it. However, it was the first formal stance training Riku, Sora, Roxas, Xion, and Naminé had ever received, and it showed.

            Kairi and Lea, however, were sailing through it with ease.

            “You’re all doing very well with this,” Aqua said, soothing the ruffled feathers. “Though I do want to ask. Kairi, Lea, where did you learn this? You’ve obviously received prior instruction.”

            Kairi smiled, a little sadly. “We met a woman named Lightning on our training trip. She practically insisted on teaching us swordplay when she saw us floundering on her world.”

            “Hmm. Maybe I should meet her someday,” Aqua said, and both of them and Naminé grimaced. They had filled Lea in on Lightning’s current status upon returning from Gran Pulse and Arendelle.

            “Uh, that’d be interesting, but last time we went to her world, her sister told us she’s missing in action,” Kairi said.

            “Oh,” Aqua said. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

            Kairi waved. “It’s okay. They’re looking for her. I’m sure nothing’s wrong.” She stretched. “But I think I need a shower.”

            “Yes, you do,” Riku said, neutrally, but with a grin pulling at the corners of his lips. She glared at him. “You and that nose…”

            “All right, showers, kiddos. Off you go now, and not all at once,” Lea said, earning him another round of glares. As they left, he turned to Aqua. “It’s real nice of you to be doing this, though, Miss Master.”

            Aqua smiled. “Just ‘Aqua’ is fine, Lea. And teaching is fun for me. Believe it or not, it’s helping relieve the stress I have over Terra.”

            “You don’t mind hanging out with a bunch of kids, huh?”

            Aqua raised an eyebrow. “They’re not _that_ young.”

            “Don’t remind me,” Lea said. “I’m old.”

            Aqua giggled. “So am I. But there are some benefits that come with being older.”

            “You’re right. There is one thing we adults can do that these kids here can’t,” Lea said, grinning at her.

            Aqua took an involuntary step back. “And... what would that be?” she asked, on guard but also, in a deep part of her that had been very lonely even before the Realm of Darkness, a little curious.

            “Let me show you,” Lea said, winking.

 

 

            “All right, I have a confession to make,” Aqua admitted. “Before you brought me to the kitchen, I thought you might have been propositioning me for sex.”

            Lea fumbled and almost dropped the glasses he was pulling out of the cupboard, caught off guard. “Oh, jeez, no, that’s not what I was going for at all. I’m, uh, sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

            “Oh, no, no, it’s fine, I mean it’s – I did agree to go with – But I mean I didn’t–” They were both bright red by this point.

            Seeing her panic, Lea held up a hand. “Okay. Just to clear the air: You’re attractive, but you’re not my type, and I’m not interested in you like that. We good?”

            “Yes,” Aqua said, still embarrassed. She let out a huff of laughter. “What, not a fan of ‘blue-nettes’?” she asked, half-teasing, tossing her hair.

            Lea was thankful he was facing the cupboard again so she couldn’t see the grimace that passed across his face. “Ah, no, not a fan of women,” he said.

            Aqua blanched. “Oh, now I feel even worse about thinking you were trying to... I’m really sorry.”

            Lea shook his head, walking over to the table she was sitting at and placing the glasses down on it. “Hey, you didn’t know, it’s fine.” He walked back over to a different cabinet and looked into it, pondering.

            Despite her continued embarrassment, Aqua realized something. “So it’s not that you don’t like blue hair...” she started, but this time she saw the flash of pain in Lea’s face. “What’s wrong?”

            “I, uh,” Lea said eloquently. He was having a sudden vision of Roxas’s stern face floating before him, telling him to be more open.

            “Is it... Isa? Was that his name?” Aqua asked. “I saw Kairi’s memory of his Nobody in Castle Oblivion. She said you two used to be friends?”

            “I... yeah,” Lea admitted, looking down at his boots. “I dunno if he’s still in there, considering, you know...”

            She did know.

            “Tell you what,” she said. “You tell me about Isa, and I’ll tell you about Terra. So we can work on saving them both.”

            Lea looked back up at her and smiled. “Deal. But if we’re taking a trip down memory lane, we’re gonna need... this.” He pulled a large bottle off of the shelf.

            Aqua raised an eyebrow. “How did you know that would be there?”

            Lea shrugged. “It’s Yen Sid’s kitchen. Dude was Mickey’s Keyblade Master; I’d have been surprised if he _didn’t_ have alcohol lying around. For emergencies, of course.”

            “Of course,” Aqua agreed drily, though she did see his point.

            Lea poured a small amount of liquor into both glasses, then snapped his fingers. “We’re gonna want water and food,” he said.

            “Why?”

            “Alcohol and an empty stomach don’t go well together, if I remember right,” he explained. “And personally I’d rather get food sober.”

            Aqua smiled, and rose from the table. “All right. I’ll get the water, then.”

            Lea went to the fridge, and frowned. He could have sworn there had been leftovers from the dinner they’d had two nights previously; neither he nor Aqua had been a fan of the pasta they’d had today, so he didn’t bother with it. “Huh. Well, plan B,” he muttered.

            Aqua poured out generous measures of water for them both, and looked up in surprise as Lea set down a plate of fries and cheese curds covered in - was that gravy? At her questioning look, he shrugged. “S’called poutine. Trust me, it’s amazing when you’re drunk. Or so I’m told.”

            “Have you not been drunk before?” Aqua asked.

            Lea raised an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

            “You seem to have a lot of knowledge secondhand.”

            Lea shrugged. “Yes, I’ve been drunk. Once. Back when I was fifteen. Nobodies don’t get drunk, ‘cause, you know, no metabolism. Didn’t stop Luxord from collecting Scotch, though,” he added, murmuring to himself. “Anyway, what about you?”

            Aqua set her shoulders and looked away. “Also once. I’ve had alcohol since but not to excess.”

            Lea smirked. “How old?”

            Aqua continued not looking at him. “Thirteen.”

            “Wow. Miss Keyblade Master was a delinquent once upon a time, huh?” Lea said, laughing.

            Aqua flushed. “Terra talked me into it, if you must know,” she said, haughtily. “And aside from one glass as celebration when we each turned eighteen, that was it.”

            “Eighteen? Huh. Drinking age in Radiant Garden was nineteen, if I’m remembering right,” Lea mused.

            “It’s different in different worlds,” Aqua agreed. “I’m pretty sure it’s twenty on the Destiny Islands.”

            Lea nodded, and a grin slowly spread across his face. “And hey, come to think of it, it’s twenty-one in Twilight Town. So, maybe I shouldn’t be letting you–”

            Aqua snatched her glass away from his reaching hand. “I’m thirty-two, dammit, let me have this.”

            “All right, all right.” Lea drew his hand back. His grin faded. “So, do you want to start there?”

            “What do you mean?”

            Lea took a sip from his glass. “How old are you, exactly, Aqua?”

            She caught his meaning immediately. “Good question. I’ve been alive for thirty-two years.”

            “But you’ve only lived through twenty of them,” Lea said.

            Aqua nodded. “Exactly. So I do consider myself twenty.”

            “So you’re giving me the glass back?”

            She glared at him, and took a sip, coughing a bit. “What about you? How old are you?”

            “I am twenty-seven. Although technically I spent half a year dead before recompleting.”

            “So you do consider your Somebody and your Nobody to be the same person?”

            Lea shrugged. “Axel was just me with no conscience. Plus it’d be weird to say ‘I died at age fifteen and got resurrected having aged twelve years’. I still have all my memories, and all my regrets. But, I’ve still got everything and everyone Axel grew to care about towards the end. And I still care about them. So, Axel was me, and I was him.”

            Aqua smirked. “And you’re old.”

            He glared at her. “Ha ha.”

            She swirled the liquid in her glass. “So… regrets?”

            Lea nodded. “I’ve had a few.”

            She pursed her lips, innocently. “I’m guessing one of them has blue hair?”

            “Oh, am I going first?” Lea deadpanned. “Fine. Isa.

            “Isa was my best friend for as long as I could remember. That was surprising to a lot of people back in school, ’cause we were both ‘lone wolves’. Plus he was a straight-A student and I was… well…” He grinned a charming grin that did nothing for Aqua.

            She nodded. “I’ve met you, yes.”

            Lea pouted, and she sipped her drink again. “Look, if you don’t want me to do that stop setting me up for it,” she teased.

            “Whatever,” Lea grumbled. “What most people didn’t realize was that we essentially grew up together. We lived next door to each other from almost the days we were born. And yeah, we were different. But we were good for each other. I made sure his life wasn’t horribly boring, and he made sure I never actually set anything on fire.”

            “Was that a concern?” Aqua asked, amused.

            Lea raised an eyebrow. “Have you not heard people tossing the term ‘pyromaniac’ around to refer to me? There’s a _reason_ I have an affinity for Fire magic. While we were kids, Isa was like eighty-five, ninety percent of my impulse control.”  He smiled, reminiscing, and then his smile darkened. “No, I didn’t start setting things on fire until after becoming Axel. No emotions means no conscience, no giving a shit about anything you didn’t deem important for logical reasons. Well, at first, cause of the whole ‘growing new hearts’ thing we didn’t know about.”

            Aqua nodded. “I saw several Nobodies in Castle Oblivion. You all seemed… passionate, I suppose is the right word?”

            Lea shrugged. “Yeah, that would’ve been towards the end. I’m guessing you got me, Marluxia, you said Saïx, and..?”

            “I met Larxene.”

            Lea laughed humourlessly. “Oh yeah, if you were going through Naminé’s memories you would’ve–”

            “No, she was in the Castle. Alive,” Aqua interrupted.

            Lea froze. “You’re shitting me,” he said, and Aqua shook her head. “What happened?”

            “Naminé… laid her to rest.”

            Lea stared at her. “Okay, I get why she wouldn’t have wanted to talk about that, but… holy fucking shit.” He took a much larger sip than usual, and shook his head. “But yeah, at first all we had was the sensation of something missing. Isa – or Saïx now, at that point – and I still considered each other friends because we still remembered liking each other. So, we started our own little insurrection.”

            “Insurrection?”

            “Yep. Xemnas was keeping secrets and we were going to find them out. Saïx earned his confidence and trust, while I did the icky jobs.” He side-eyed her, smugly. “You know I was the only person who survived Castle Oblivion, right? Or, at least, we all thought I was until you dropped that bombshell just now.”

            “You were?” Aqua asked, sipping her drink again.

            “Sure was. And that was intentional. Xemnas assigned me to root out the ‘traitor’, which was Marluxia and Larxene, but it also afforded me the opportunity to get rid of people standing in Saïx’s way to the top: Vexen, Zexion, and Lexaeus. Riku took care of Lexaeus without me doing anything, I killed Vexen to prove my ‘loyalty’ to Marluxia and Larxene, and I sicced the Riku Replica on Zexion. That left Saïx as pretty much the top dog aside from Xigbar, who _really_ didn’t give a shit.”

            Aqua pursed her lips. “He always was scum,” she muttered.

            Lea raised an eyebrow “You’ve met him?”

            “I met his Somebody,” Aqua said, tonelessly. “Braig. He was in Xehanort’s employ twelve years ago.”

            “Shit. Well, that explains why he always acted like he knew some huge secret.” Lea took another sip, and eyed the glass of water, evaluating. Nah, not yet. “Castle Oblivion was after things started to change between us, though. That started early on, back when he got that scar.” He mimed an X–shape on his own face. “It’s my fault.”

            “What happened?”

            “I mouthed off to Xemnas. Isa took the retaliation for me. And that’s when everything changed.”

            “An X–shape…” Aqua murmured. “…No, it couldn’t be. The Recusant’s Sigil?”

            Lea shrugged. “No idea. But after getting that scar, his eyes went gold, his hair gradually got lighter, and his ears started growing points. It took a long time, so long I never noticed. But I think that’s how he got Norted.”

            Aqua sputtered into her glass of water. “How he got _what?!_ ”

            Lea raised his eyebrows. “Possessed by the creepy old man? Got a piece of a Keyblade Master’s heart stuck in him? Became a vessel?”

            Aqua grabbed a napkin and started dabbing up the spill. “I understood what you meant but… ‘Norted’?!”

            Lea shrugged again. “What? It’s a quick, catchy name to explain what happened. And it’s kind of funny, which softens how serious it is.”

            “I…” Aqua rubbed her temples, at a loss for words. “Please stop calling it that.”

            “Aight, whatever. But that, I think, was when it happened. When he first started to change. And I didn’t notice until years later. Until Roxas and Xion came around and taught me what real friendship was again. And I looked at what was between Saïx and me, and that? That wasn’t friendship. Not at that point.”

            Aqua tapped her fingers against her glass. “But… you still want to try and save him.” It wasn’t a question.

            Lea looked down at his glass, staring into the depths. “I want to try to save the friend I lost twelve years ago. That might mean killing the man I worked with for ten years. It’s going to be hard. But hey,” he said, shrugging. “‘Assassin’ is on my résumé. If anyone’s gonna do the icky jobs, it’s gonna be me.”

            “Regardless of what’s on your CV, you aren’t going to be alone in this. It’s possible he didn’t become possessed until after you recompleted,” Aqua said. “If that’s the case, we just need to strip the bits of Xehanort out of him.” She sighed. “And preferably find him at the same time we find Terra. If we grab one of them, we’ve given the game away. Xehanort won’t give us another chance to steal another one of his vessels.”

            Lea grimaced, and took another large sip. “I need a refill. You?”

            “Might as well,” Aqua said. “Because it sounds like it’s my turn. Though I notice,” she added, smirking. “There wasn’t much information in there about what your friendship with Isa was like before the Fall.”

            Lea shrugged. “I spent a decade keeping myself to myself. Sorry, I’m not used to having people who want to listen and aren’t planning on fucking me over with the information I give them.”

            “A fair point,” Aqua conceded. She sighed. “Terra.

            “I don’t remember a lot of my life before the Land of Departure, which I believe is probably for the best. I was very young when I came to live with Master Eraqus, as was Terra; and I’m pretty sure the Master wasn’t in the habit of kidnapping. Which means the reason why we were in his care was likely…” she trailed off, studying her glass. “Well. No point in speculating. Terra was basically my brother, so it isn’t quite like the situation between you and Isa–”

            “In those terms, there is no situation between me and Isa,” Lea broke in. “I definitely liked him way back when, but… I’ll settle for getting him back right now. Anything else… I can’t torture myself by hoping for. I’m sorry, I interrupted. You were saying?”

            Aqua nodded. “Ven came later, but for years it was just me and Terra. And there was never really a competition between us. I was naturally better at magic, and he was naturally better at swordplay, but the Master made sure we never got swelled heads over it, or held our strengths over each other. Every milestone we hit in our training, we hit around the same time. Which… is probably why everything started going south when I passed the Mark of Mastery exam and Terra didn’t.”

            Lea nodded. “Think I heard about that. I asked Riku about you a while back, on our trip. Kinda sounds like the game was rigged from the start if you ask me.”

            Aqua laughed, actually slightly amused and relieved she didn’t have to tell this part of the story again. “That’s not a bad way to put it, no. But… Terra didn’t have his darkness in control. That wasn’t Xehanort, that was all him. It’s taken me… a long time, to stop thinking less of him for that.”

            “You’d think hanging around Riku would’ve–” Lea started, then stopped upon seeing the look on her face. “Oh HO. Someone has hang-ups about darkness, doesn’t she?”

            Aqua glared. “If you were raised your entire life to fear and revile something, then you lost your brother to it, then you were trapped in the dimension it comes from for over a decade, and after all that you meet a person who treats it like a normal part of his life with no repercussions, how would you feel?”

            “I wouldn’t say no repercussions. You know about the time he spent tall, dark, and hAnsem, right?” Lea said, taking a sip of his drink.

            Aqua sighed, and looked away. “Yes. Forgive me, that was disingenuous. Riku seems to have it well in hand, despite the trials achieving that control put him through.”

            “Yeah, buuuut,” Lea drawled, leaning back in his chair. “You should talk to him about this. If it’s bothering you.”

            Aqua sighed again, and took another sip. “I need to. It’s no business of mine, but… if he could teach Terra the control he has…”

            “Makes sense,” Lea agreed. “Though you’ll probably have to do some careful wordplay to convince him he can do it. Poor kid’s got barely any self-confidence.”

            Aqua frowned. “Why doesn’t he–”

            “Ah, ah, ah. His tale to tell, not mine,” Lea said, smirking. “But seriously, it’s really personal for him, I only know because I haven’t been able to kick the eavesdropping habit.”

            “Fair enough,” Aqua said, confused. She took another sip and reached for her water glass. “Well. Now I’ve got a bunch of childhood memories on my mind. And I miss him.”

            Lea nodded, and patted her on the back. She didn’t jump or flinch at the unexpected contact. “Want to share?”

            Aqua smiled. “Well, there was the time when he was six and threw a temper tantrum. Climbed up a tree on the castle grounds and refused to come in. He didn’t get more than five feet off the ground, but we kept bringing it up to tease him with it _years_ after the fact.”

            “Nice,” Lea said.

            “And when he was thirteen he tried to call me ‘Milady’ for a while. He really, really liked fantasy novels, knights and princesses and all that.”

            “Ouch,” Lea said. “Hope he grew out of that.”

            Aqua snickered. “Yep. Almost immediately, after I hit him in the face with my Keyblade for it.”

            Lea laughed. “Did you get in trouble? Doesn’t sound very ladylike.”

            Aqua arched an eyebrow. “Ladies may not start fights, but we do finish them.” She smiled. “I actually didn’t; the Master was there in the room, and he heard me ask him politely to stop. I didn’t hit him until after he didn’t. I got a lecture about not hitting people, but Terra got one on respecting what people want or don’t want to be called. And he never did it again, so…”

            “Looks like it took,” Lea said, grinning. He sipped at his drink, pursed his lips, and finally reached for his water glass. “Knights and princesses? Dork.”

            “Hey! Don’t make fun of people’s interests!” Aqua scolded. “He really did want to be a knight; the fact that it was around the same time we got our first sets of armour really helped.” She smiled. “If we’d been a bit younger he’d probably have wanted to read the books out loud to me. As it was I still got an earful on the adventures of Wilfred of Ivanhoe, Robert of Locksley and King Arthur Pendragon. Not together, they were all separate books, but…” she trailed off. “Something wrong?”

            Lea’s mouth was hanging open. “Uh… I’ve… met Robert of Locksley. Robin Hood, he’s called. And… Merlin, you know, the wizard that trained Kairi and me? Arthur Pendragon’s the king of his home world. So…”

            Aqua’s eyes widened. “Well… I guess they weren’t just stories, then.” She smiled. “Terra will probably be shocked to hear that.”

            Lea smiled. “So, what other embarrassing stories do you have from childhood?” he asked.

            Aqua smirked. “ _Well_ …”

 

 

**One hour later…**

            “And he’s all ‘You’re such a girl sometimes.’ And, like, as opposed to what, Terra? Yes, I am a girl! Maybe I just wanted to do something _nice_ for my _friends_ , huh?!” Aqua fumed. They hadn’t slowed down, but the point was to get drunk, regardless, so they were right on track.

            “Right? Your friends need to know you care about them!” Lea agreed.

            “Right! And, like… _sometimes_ a girl? The _fuck_ does that mean, Terra? I’m _always_ a fucking girl! Is there something _wrong_ with that?!” Aqua waved her hand around, narrowly missing Lea with her glass but miraculously not spilling a drop. “Do you not _see_ me as a girl, Terra? I don’t count because we’re like _siblings_? Is that it?”

            “Thought you didn’t like him like that,” Lea said, a little confused.

            “I _don’t_!” Aqua shouted. “But it’s nice to be _desired,_ dammit!”

            “Hey Aqua? More water,” Lea advised, sliding her glass towards her.

 

 

**Two hours later…**

            “But it just seems impossible, you know?” Lea said, a tear dripping down his cheeks. “Like, where the fuck are they, even? The Castle that Never Was? They like the damn room Where Nothing Gathers, but it’s half asleep or something. Never understood that.”

            “There’s a million damn worlds they could be on and no way to know unless we get a lucky sighting or something,” Aqua agreed, patting his back awkwardly as she was slowly losing hand-eye coordination. “Fucking bullshit is what it is.”

            “And all that asshole has to do is, like, send us a fucking letter when he’s ready, the bastard,” Lea grumbled. “And we walk right in and hope we take him down before the key-sword… fuck… sword-blade… shit… χ–blade, that’s the one, gets made. If we don’t make it by accident stopping him!”

            “And then there’s the fucking _time travel_ bullshit dead people!” Aqua agreed, slamming her free palm on the table. “How many times do we have to kill this fucker before he dies? This is, what, the third time? Fourth?”

            “Too damn many!”

            “Too damn many!”

 

 

**Three hours later…**

            “Y’know… what?” Lea asked, slurring his words.

            Aqua smiled, bangs falling over her face as she leaned over the table. “What?”

            “If you were a guy… or I was straight… or I was a girl… and we were sober right now… I’d probably agree to sleep with you. You’re cool.”

            “Aw, Lea! That’s one of the nicest things anyone’s ever said to me!” Aqua said, laughing.

            Lea’s mouth dropped open. “Whuh… really? Aqua, that’s, like, really sad. Like, _really_ sad. ‘I’d fuck you if we had compatible orientations’? Really? _That’s_ one of the…?”

            “Shshshsshhshhshhhh,” Aqua said, pressing a finger to his lips. “Hyperbowl… Hypar… Hype… Bolly… Making big deal for comic effect. Lots of people have been _really_ nice to me. A _lot_. Buuuuuuut… No one’s said they’d sleep with me before. Not that I’ve asked, though, right?

            “Right.”

            “But that’s _nice_ of you to say that. Reaaaalll nice. I ‘preciate it. You’re cool, too, Lea!”

            “Aw, thank you! You’re cool!”

            “No, you’re cool!”

            “No, you’re…!”

 

 

**Four hours later…**

            The door of the kitchen creaked open, the person opening it wincing at the noise. It was dark, the lights out. The person snuck over to the fridge, opening the door to find the leftovers from that day’s dinner.

            There was movement at the table, and the person froze. In the light from the refrigerator door, the person saw Lea and Aqua, both passed out at the table.

            The person rolled their eyes. The scent of alcohol lingered in the air, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out what had happened. Fortunately, they probably wouldn’t wake up.

            The person carefully scooped out portions of the leftover pasta, making sure there’d be no indication anything had been taken from the container at first glance. They took their plate, and headed for the door.

            They were stopped short by a sound from the table. They looked back to see Aqua shivering, shaking in her sleep. With a loud, but not too loud, sigh, the person put down their plate, and went to the common room. They grabbed a blanket, and brought it back to the kitchen. Carefully, gently so as not to wake her, they draped the blanket over Aqua’s shoulders.

            They retreated to their plate and scooped it up, heading for the door once again, but, almost unwillingly, they lingered in the doorway until Aqua stopped shivering. The person shook their head, and as they left the room, murmured a single word.

            “Idiots.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cards on the table, I don't actually drink. I've never been drunk, but I have been hungover (read: severely dehydrated). It's not an experience I ever wished to repeat. So that's why Lea's knowledge is all 'secondhand'; I did go to university. As for why poutine as a drunk food instead of literally anything else, I went to university in Ontario.   
> This is the last chapter that was started on my phone, although more than half of it was written afterwords. If you're interested in actual Lea/Aqua romance, with compatible orientations, I can recommend Boiling Point, by Akordia and TheBlackSouledFox. It's a slow burn (I have no idea if they intended the pun, but...) but what's been written so far is real good.   
> I'm still wary of stepping on canon by accident when it comes to discussing character's histories, but I figure it's moot at this point. That's why Lea's talk about Isa is so sparse; their shared history is probably gonna be real relevant to KHIII. (Watch it get barely skimmed over now that I've predicted that.) For the purposes of this AU, yes, both Terra and Aqua are orphans that Eraqus rescued. That's why Ven's family is the only big question mark for them, everyone else is accounted for.   
> Point of clarification, because I'm not sure if it's clear enough in the text, the "one hour later, two hours later, etc" are counting from Aqua saying "Well..." So every cut jumps ahead one hour, instead of it being cumulative.  
> And as for the nighttime visitor, all I'll say is that they're not an intruder, it's one of the people that live in the Tower. And like with 'the only qualified adult in the Tower', we will find out who that person is eventually. (Meaning you can guess but I'm not going to give a straight answer)  
> I think that's everything. Next chapter is the last chapter, before we move on. I've been waiting on this one for quite a while.   
> It's time for Riku and Aqua to have a talk.


	14. Who You Are In The Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riku and Aqua take advantage of a stakeout assignment to have a heart-to-heart regarding darkness.

            Aqua sighed and took another sip of her water, privately thanking Kairi for the painkillers. She and Lea had done their best, but the hangover had been unavoidable. Thankfully everyone else had given them a day to themselves, figuring the splitting headaches were enough of a punishment. Though, she was pretty sure she’d seen Roxas and Xion outside Lea’s room, carrying a box of metal objects and smirking to themselves, as she went down to the common room.

            She was thankful she had left the dormitory floor, since there was a subsequently a loud crash, audible even from floors away. Poor Lea. Well, at least she’d avoided it.

            The day had been quiet, until the evening, when Yen Sid had called her and Riku to his study. Right now, she was waiting outside the room for Riku to arrive.

            She remembered most of her conversation with Lea the previous night; not all of it, she didn’t think. She had some spotty memories of complaining about the time Terra had said she was “such a girl, _sometimes_ ”, and Lea advising her to be drinking more water, but everything after that was a blank. Probably for the best.

            That said, she _did_ remember talking about Riku, and how she felt about his controlled use of darkness. She sighed. That was a conversation that had to happen at some point, she supposed. Of course, she’d prefer to simply go on ignoring it, but now that she’d told Lea about it, it would probably get forced out of him by Kairi eventually. Better to deal with it herself that have Kairi try to mediate.

            Riku’s arrival startled her out of her musings. “Master Yen Sid said he wanted to see us?” he asked, seeming a little uncomfortable himself.

            Aqua nodded and immediately regretted it. “He’s waiting. Come on.”

            They entered the study and Yen Sid looked up from what he was reading. “Ah, Master Aqua, Master Riku. Good. There is an important matter we must discuss. First, however, Master Aqua…”

            “Yes, Master?” Aqua asked, although she was pretty sure she knew where this was headed.

            “You are not in trouble for your… experience, the previous night, but please inform Lea that I expect the two of you to replace that bottle. The Tower will not create alcohol, you see,” Yen Sid said, a hint of a smile tugging his lips. “And though I understand you did attempt to take precautions beforehand, I will urge you to follow through with on those precautions with more conviction the next time.”

            Aqua flushed. “Y-yes, Master. I apologize,” she said, ignoring Riku’s questioning look.

            “Excellent,” Yen Sid. “Now, then, the matter at hand. I am sure that in the weeks you have been here, you both have noticed the… odd goings-on.”

            “Odd things, Master?” Riku asked.

            Yen Sid nodded. “Food disappearing, books being reorganized, objects disappearing from where they were left and reappearing elsewhere.”

            Now that he mentioned it, Aqua had woken up wearing a blanket she knew she hadn’t had while drinking with Lea. She had assumed she’d merely taken it from the common room while under the influence, but perhaps…

            “Honestly, sir, we just kind of assumed the Tower was… weird,” Riku admitted. “I mean, it’s enchanted, right? And I’m pretty sure it’s wider on the inside than it is on the outside.”

            “That is true, Master Riku,” Yen Sid acknowledged. “But I have lived here for quite some time, and neither I nor Mickey have seen this sort of malfeasance before. It falls outside of what we know to be the Tower’s normal behaviour, and while currently, it seems benign, who can say how long that will last?”

            “So, you want us to figure out what’s happening? Who’s making these changes at night?” Aqua asked.

            Yen Sid nodded. “Yes. It may simply be one of the others living here, but if it were, I should think Riku would have seen them.”

            Riku crossed his arms, frowning. “There was that one time I found Ven sleepwalking, but I haven’t seen him since.”

            Aqua nodded. “He hasn’t done that since that night. I think it might have been the stress over… the issues we worked out that night,” she said, reddening a bit. Riku nodded as well, and she remembered that Ven had talked things over with him before coming to her.

            “As that is the case, I request that the two of you discover the identity of our nighttime visitor. The wards remain strong; I do not believe it is the forces of Darkness at work, but we cannot be too cautious.” Yen Sid steepled his fingers. “I would suggest you two keep watch over the kitchen; the single common thread of these incidents is the removal of food in all of them.”

            Riku smiled. “So, a stakeout. Might be fun,” he offered, turning to Aqua.

            She smiled back, and it was mostly genuine. “Might be,” she agreed. And if she was looking for a time to have a talk with him, this would be it.

 

 

            A couple hours later, Riku and Aqua quietly let themselves into the kitchen and shut the door behind them. Aqua sat down at the table, but Riku lingered near the door.

            There was something… distant, about Aqua. It didn’t seem like there was a problem, but it felt like she was on tenderhooks around him. This might be his chance to talk to her about it, but what if he was worried over nothing?

            Regardless, that wasn’t the main reason why he was hesitating.

            “Uh, Aqua, if we’re going to wait for who or what ever this is, we’re going to have to turn the lights out,” he said. “And… sit here in the dark.”

            Aqua started. “Oh,” she said. “I… suppose you’re right.”

            He reached for the light switch, but hesitated. “Is this… going to bother you?” he asked.

            Aqua blinked. “Why would that… Oh,” she said. “Um, no, no it won’t. It’s not the same.”

            “Okay, that’s good,” Riku said. “Then I’ll just…” He flipped the light switch and the candle set on the table went out. He had long since stopped trying to figure out how that worked.

            The darkness settled in, and so did the awkward silence. There was a little bit of light from the stars streaming in the window, enough that he could see Aqua’s silhouette if he focused enough, but they were essentially sitting in the dark.

            “So…” he said, at the same time that Aqua started saying “Riku, I…”

            “Sorry,” he apologized. “You were saying?”

            “No, no,” she said, “You go first.”

            “Oh…kay…” Riku said. “I haven’t really asked, but how have you been doing? You were really shaken up just after getting out of the Realm of Darkness. I know it’s none of my business, but–”

            “No, it’s fine,” Aqua said. “I’m… doing as best I can. Believe it or not, going to Castle Oblivion was good for me. It let me work through some things I was wrong about. I’m worried about Terra, of course, but I’m making new friends. It’s been helping.” There was a tone to her voice that suggested a smile.

            “I see. That’s good,” Riku said, smiling as well. “What were you going to say?”

            “Oh… Uh…” Aqua trailed off. “That’s… I…”

            Riku frowned. “Is something wrong, Aqua?” 

            “Well… that’s… not really, but… it’s…”

            “If it’s hard to talk about, maybe it should wait until–”

            “No!” Aqua interrupted, firmly. “I need to talk to you about this. I’m just… having a hard time figuring out how to bring it up without sounding… distrustful. Or accusing.”

            “Distrustful or…?” Riku asked, and then it hit him. Oh. Oh, yeah, of course. What else would it be? Of course thing’s weren’t fine, of course Aqua had a problem with him, of course–

            He mentally slapped himself. No, that wasn’t helpful. Stop doing it. Put it down and talk to her.

            “This is about me and the darkness, isn’t it?” he asked, and he could see Aqua cringe in what little light there was.

            “…Yes,” she admitted. “I’m sorry, Riku. This is complicated and unfair to you and it’s something else I have to unlearn, but yes. It’s about that.”

            Riku sat back and considered. “You know… you could ask,” he offered. “Talk to me about what bothers you, see if I can give you more peace of mind.”

            “Really?” Aqua asked. “You don’t have any obligation to explain yourself to me. Like I said, this is a hang-up I have that I need to unlearn.”

            Riku shrugged, then realized she couldn’t see him do it. “Talking about this sort of thing doesn’t bother me as much as you might think it would. It’s been a long time. And, how are you going to unlearn if you don’t have any information? Sitting alone and feeling bad for having certain feelings doesn’t get you very far. If experience has taught me anything.”

            “I… you know what, we’ll get to that,” Aqua said, sounding… was that concern for him? Strange, they’d barely talked before this. “If you’re really sure you don’t mind..?”

            “I don’t.”

            “Then…” Aqua sighed. “I still don’t know where to start. My first instinct is to ask, ‘how?’, or ‘why?’, but I don’t think that’s…”

            “Why not?” Riku asked.

            “Huh?”

            “Why not start with ‘how’ or ‘why’?”

            Aqua turned her head towards him. “Because it’s not so much ‘how did you manage it?’ and ‘why was it necessary?’ as it is ‘how could you?’ and ‘why did you survive this and not Terra?’,” she said, dully. “I’m sorry. You don’t deserve that.”

            “That… still doesn’t sound like a bad place to start,” Riku said. He did feel a little hurt on some level, like he’d been measured by this older, more experienced person and found wanting, but he reminded himself that Aqua was only a couple years older than he was, and had subjectively been a Keyblade Master for almost the same amount of time as he had, if not less. And even if Riku, who had agreed to take the exam only to prove to himself he deserved to have a Keyblade at all, felt out of his depth as a Master and had been much less prepared than Aqua, who had trained for it all her life, she still probably felt out of her depth and unprepared, too. She was his peer, not his superior.

            He thought he saw her shake her head. “Riku… look, I’ve been told you have… problems with self-image?”

            He actually chuckled at that. “Well, you’re not wrong. But I don’t see how that’s relevant?”

            “…I don’t want to be making you feel bad about yourself.”

            “Aqua there’s nothing you can say about me that I haven’t said about myself. And if this helps you… well, I’d consider that worth it.”

            She was silent for a second. “You and Sora are a lot alike,” she said eventually.

            Riku blinked. “We… we are?”

            “Yes. You sure you won’t mind?”

            Riku started to shake his head, then remembered. “No. And if something you say does bother me, I have Sora and Kairi, and the King. You don’t need to feel responsible for me, Aqua.”

            “All right. Then let’s start with ‘how’.” She took a deep breath. “All my life, I was taught that Darkness was something to be reviled and feared. So, being told that you use it, and then seeing it for myself, it… it scared me.”

            “Scared you?”

            Aqua might have been nodding until she realized the obvious problem. “I was taught that Darkness was a corruption. That it had no place in the Realm of Light. That my duty as a Keybearer was to eradicate it, from the worlds and from myself. The only times I’ve seen a Keybearer use the power of Darkness were… Xehanort, Vanitas, and… Terra. Two people who tried to kill me, and the friend I lost to it. What else is Darkness, Riku, but hate and rage?”

            She turned her head away from him. Riku let the silence sit for a second, contemplating how to answer.

            “Darkness… is a natural state, just like Light,” he said eventually. “Darkness is a place to hide when pursued, a place to lie in wait before you strike. Darkness is the quiet at midnight when the world is asleep. Darkness is feeling the people you love beside you without needing to see them. Darkness can be quiet, it can be loud. It can be terrifying, yes, but it can also be comforting. Be a threat, but also a relief. It can be hate, yes, but it can also be an embrace. Rage, yes, but also determination. It’s different, and you’re right, too much of it doesn’t belong in the Realm of Light. But… even during the day, there are shadows. Just like how even at night, there are stars. It’s a balance.”

            “I don’t know if I can believe that,” Aqua said, quietly. “Even if there’s more to it than what I was taught, it still seems incredibly dangerous. Foolhardy to try and control, and all-consuming once it gets its claws in you.” Riku could just make out the shape of her curling up in the chair, drawing her knees up to her chin. In that moment it was hard to see the Keyblade Master, and easy to see the woman, barely an adult, who had lost almost everything she’d known and loved. “Riku, I… I have nightmares sometimes. About who… _what_ I would’ve become if I’d given up hope in the Realm of Darkness. If you and Mickey… were too late.”

            “I’m… sorry,” Riku offered. It was all he could do.

            He got the impression that Aqua was shaking her head. “I appreciate the sympathy. But… I don’t understand it. How are you able to use the Darkness and remain in the Light? How has it not eaten you from the inside out?”

            “Aqua… everyone has darkness inside of them,” Riku said. “And I do mean everyone. Even Princesses of Heart like Kairi; it’s almost imperceptible, which is why we say they’re ‘pure’ lights, but it’s there. You have to have both; Ven regrew his, didn’t he? I remember the description of what he was like without it. You can’t just… eradicate it from yourself. And… there’s an important distinction I need to make here. There’s darkness, and then there’s Darkness.”

            “I don’t understand,” Aqua said, confused.

            “There’s the small-d ‘darkness’ that everyone has, that everyone has to have. And then there’s the capital-d ‘Darkness’ that comes from the Realm of Darkness and invades the Realm of Light. I’m in control of my own, personal, small-letter darkness. Not the capital-letter one. The one that Xehanort draws his power from. There’s a difference. You can’t control that Darkness, no matter how hard you try. If you do… it controls you, after a while. It’s like… swimming. You can swim on top of the water all you want, but if you try to dive, you have to hold your breath, or breathe the water. I hold my breath. Xehanort didn’t.”

            “How do you know that?” Aqua asked. She seemed more curious than accusing.

            “‘Darkness cannot be controlled, merely channeled.’” Riku recited from memory. “Ansem… Xehanort’s Heartless… did try to teach me some things. He insisted on that, and he was wrong. Channelling the Darkness doesn’t work. It eats away at you, like you said.”

            “So… how can you use it? What’s different for you?”

            “Like I said, I control _my_ darkness. I can tell the difference between it and any other, because…” Riku paused, unsure how to explain this.

            Aqua tilted her head, enough to be noticeable. “…Part of what I saw in Castle Oblivion was Kairi’s memories of her time in The World That Never Was. I know what… what happened to you.”

            Riku took a deep breath. “You know part of it. Ansem wore my body like a suit for some time. It was only thanks to Sora that I got my body back, but… part of Ansem was still in there with me. Part of his darkness. After my experience in Castle Oblivion, it lost any sapience it might have had, but it still wasn’t me. I had to draw on the power of darkness to subdue Roxas, but I called on both my own, and the lingering remains of Ansem’s. His overpowered mine long enough for me to take his shape again. I thought it would be permanent.” He took another breath, and sighed. “After I became me again, the remains of his darkness were stripped out of me. After that, the only darkness in me was my own. So… I learned it. I got to know it. I made sure I understood its shape, its ways and its wiles. So I can recognize what’s ‘me’ and what’s ‘not me’. And that’s the big secret. That’s how I can use the darkness – _my_ darkness. I can control it, because I recognize it as part of me. It’s as much me as my arm is, and fighting it makes about as much sense as fighting my arm would. And because of that… because of that, I can recognize darkness that isn’t mine. So I can’t be controlled like that ever again.”

            “That… makes sense to me, actually,” Aqua said. “And that answers my other question.”

            “It does?”

            There was silence for a second until Aqua blurted out “Right, right, you can’t see me nodding, sorry.”

            Riku suppressed a laugh. “You were saying?”

            “That answers why you and not Terra. Terra… was raised the same way I was. So… everything you did, everything you tried, every conclusion you’ve come to… he would never have thought to try any of that. Neither would I have, or Ven.” She sighed, and leaned back. “But at the same time… it gives me hope.”

            “Hope?” Riku asked, surprised.

            “If you can learn how to live with your darkness, then… then maybe Terra can learn to live with his, once we get him back. Maybe… you could teach him? If he wants to, of course.”

            Riku started. “W-what? Me, teach Terra? I… I can’t, I… I’m just…”

            “A Keyblade Master,” Aqua said, amusement in her voice. “That’s not a title that gets given out lightly, Riku. Even if you have trouble believing in yourself, you wouldn’t have passed the exam if you hadn’t shown the Mark of Mastery enough to satisfy Master Yen Sid. You _earned_ it. You wouldn’t have it otherwise.”

            Riku was silent. “It would be weird,” he said finally. “Terra was the person who gave me the Keyblade. I should be learning from him, not… not the other way around.”

            “We all learn from each other,” Aqua said, warmly. “And Riku?”

            “Yes, Aqua?”

            “For what it’s worth… I think Terra made the right decision, in choosing you.”

            “I… I… You… Thank you,” Riku stuttered, and Aqua laughed.

            They settled in to a more comfortable silence. The minutes stretched into hours, and eventually both of them stilled, their quiet breathing only noticeable if you knew to listen for it.

            The door creaked open.

            Neither of them stiffened or made any move in reaction, knowing they’d only have one shot at this. The person who entered the room looked around, but didn’t spot them. Riku couldn’t sniff the air to see who it was; any change in their breathing patterns could alert the person to their presence.

            The person ghosted over to the cabinets, carefully lifting out a box of cereal, completely silent. Riku and Aqua caught each other’s eye.

            In the blink of an eye, Riku lunged across the room and grabbed the person. They were surprisingly strong, and it was all Riku could do just to hold them still. “Aqua!” he shouted.

            “Ready!”

            He turned, and twisted, and shoved the person into one of the pulled-out chairs. Behind him, Aqua had drawn her Keyblade, and summoned golden chains, which wrapped themselves around the person and held them fast.

            The room quieted, save only for the grunting sounds of the person struggling against their bonds. Riku and Aqua were both panting from the exertion, as Riku flicked the light switch back on to reveal –

            “Ven?!” Aqua gasped.

            Still struggling against the chains, Ven looked up at them, entirely confused. “A-Aqua?” he asked. “W-What is this? What are you doing?”

            “I thought you said you hadn’t seen him?” Aqua asked Riku, who shrugged.

            “I haven’t. Maybe he was avoiding me?”

            “Aqua, what’s going on?” Ven demanded. “Why did you tie me up? Are… did something happen?”

            “Oh, Ven, I’m sorry, Master Yen Sid told us to find out who was moving things around after dark. We didn’t realize it was you!” Aqua said, squatting down in front of him.

            Something about this didn’t seem to add up to Riku. How could Ven have been avoiding him if he was sleepwalking? Almost unconsciously, he took a sniff.

            …Wait.

            “Aqua,” he said, gripping her arm. “Something’s wrong.”

            “Huh? What do you mean?” Aqua asked. “I was just going to untie him–”

            “Don’t.”

            “What?” Aqua and Ven both said.

            “He doesn’t… ugh, this is going to sound weird,” Riku said. “He doesn’t smell right.”

            “Doesn’t smell right,” Aqua repeated, frowning.

            “Yeah… My sense of smell is… uh… it’s a… darkness thing,” Riku said, embarrassed.

            “I see,” Aqua said, frowning.

            “I don’t!” Ven insisted. “Come on, Aqua, let me go!”

            “What would that… mean?” Aqua asked Riku, confused.

            “Well… It could mean that this isn’t actually Ven,” Riku said, equally confused.

            “You mean he’s Roxas?”

            “No, he doesn’t smell like Roxas either,” Riku said.

            “What are you _talking_ about?!” Ven wailed. “Aqua, it’s me, it’s Ventus!” He pouted. “You… you really _are_ awful, Aqua!”

            Aqua froze. “Ven… I…”

            But something was wrong.

            As Ven spoke, Riku noticed a flickering.

            A very familiar flickering.

            “Aqua, get away from him!” he ordered, summoning his Keyblade.

            “What?”

            “He’s not Ventus!” he said firmly. “I don’t know how, but that’s not Ven!”

            The person sitting in the chair froze. Slowly, a wide smile spread across his face, and he threw his head back and laughed.

            It was a high pitched laugh, a strained laugh, a laugh that hadn’t seen the light of day often at all.

            To Aqua, it was a familiar laugh.

            “ _Finally!_ ” The person said. “I almost had you _fooled!_ Wow, Aqua, do you not even know your own friend?” He looked at Riku. “Correct. I am not _Ventus_.”

            “That’s impossible,” Aqua whispered. “You’re _dead_.”

            “Aqua, do you know who this is?” Riku asked, lost.

            Aqua lifted her Keyblade and placed the tip against the person’s throat. “I killed you,” she hissed. “I _swear_ I _killed_ you!”

            The first two words the person spoke were said in the soft tones of someone reassuring a lover. The second two words were harsh, grating, accusatory; dripping with venom and unfiltered hatred.

            “Oh, _Aqua_ ,” said Vanitas. “You _DID_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To everyone who wondered why Xion has black hair. To everyone who questioned why Riku thought he saw Sora the night he found Ventus. To everyone who asked if Vanitas would ever appear in this AU.  
> To everyone to whom I replied with "Vanitas is dead".  
> Consider.  
> Since rebodying was first set on the table at the end of LoO, I have been referring to it as Roxas, Xion, and Naminé "coming back to life". In Not Whole, Not Broken, Xion talks about "that time she died". And in KLEA, Naminé explicitly refers to herself as a "dead girl".  
> And like a certain someone else, did I ever actually say "no"?  
> The next thing you probably want to know is how long I've been planning this. And to talk about that, I need to explain why I brought Vanitas back at all. He wasn't originally going to be in this AU; then, I read a bunch of fics that featured him: Taliax's Cast a Shadow, olivemeister's Heart Is Where The Home Is, Arcawolf's A Small Problem, and Cygna_hime's (i don't need you to) Worry for Me, among others, and I realized how much fun the little shit can be. I bring this up in regards to how long I've been planning this because these fics have been sitting in my recommended bookmarks since January and February.  
> That's right. I've been planning this _since before KLEA started publishing._ For _the entirety of the past year._  
>  (I might just be a little proud of myself.)  
> I should probably say a couple of things about the content of the chapter aside from the reveal (although I'm kind of doubting that anyone's going to talk about it, considering). I'm a big Star Wars fan, and with that comes pseudo-philosophic musings on the nature of Light and Dark. The way Riku talks about swimming as a metaphor for using darkness is how I conceptualize the Force: Jedi swim on top, Sith walk across the bottom. And I've always been fascinated by the concept of the Bendu - the ones in the middle. (which were a thing prior to the new EU, by the by, just with much less Tom Baker) Riku gives me a good opportunity to explore that interplay, as will Terra.  
> I'm sure you have many questions not answered here, but the next fic should give at least a few answers. It starts literally right where this chapter leaves off, in the middle of the exact same conversation.  
> And it's going up on Friday next. (Trying to shove as much stuff out the door before KHIII as possible!)  
> One final word. We've reached the end of what I've been privately calling the Naminé Arc.  
> Welcome, dear readers, to the Vanitas Arc.  
> See you real soon.


End file.
